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Missing Dog Being Held Ransom By Unidentified Stranger

Written by: Scott H
Scott Haiduc is the Director of Publishing for iHeartDogs, iHeartCats and The Hero Company. When not working, Scott spends his time on the farm, taking care of his animals and crops.Read more
| Published on April 18, 2017

Vance Willer of Chula Vista, California was shocked to find his family’s three dogs missing early on Easter morning. One of their dogs, Bebe, had learned how to open their back door and apparently did so for herself and the other two dogs, Teddy Bear and Lizzie. This door leads to the garage which was accidentally left cracked open, and the three pooches escaped. Bebe and Lizzie were quickly found with the help of friendly neighbors, but 3-year-old Pug, Teddy Bear, remained missing.

That is, until someone from an untraceable phone number sent a text message to Willer’s wife showing Bebe’s identification tag. The family was thrilled that their third pup had been found, but they were in for a big surprise. They called the phone number and were met with demands for reward money. “She’s like ‘Can we come get the dog’ and they’re like ‘How much is the reward?’ And she’s like ‘What do you mean? It’s our dog! Let us come get our dog,'” Willer told NBC 7. Willer said they received another text demanding $400 for Teddy Bear and they responded that they were calling the police.


Now, the family is caring for their two found dogs while hoping to be reunited with Teddy Bear. “Just bring the dog back. It’s not about the money, it’s a family pet. Just bring it back. It’s not karma, it’s dogma! It’s  going to come back around,” said Willer. They’ve contacted the local police department and are willing to pay $100 for Teddy Bear’s return.

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