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Dognapper caught on camera in southwest Atlanta, owner pleads for pup’s safe return

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Updated  January 31, 2023 11:12pm EST
SW Atlanta
FOX 5 Atlanta

"You've taken a part of our family," woman tells dognapper

Doorbell video from neighbors shows the moment a dognapper stole 10-year-old Alan, the rescue pitbull. His devastated Atlanta family is pleading with the thief to send him home.

ATLANTA - Doorbell video from neighbors showed the moment a dognapper snatched a 10-year-old rescue pit named Alan.

There has been no trace of Alan in his southwest Atlanta neighborhood ever since.

"I was devastated, I mean it’s like the worst-case scenario, right?" said Alan’s owner, Lindsay Trinkle "My mind goes to the worst-case scenario, but I’ve been trying to hope that whoever took him is willing to return him."

Trinkle said she let Alan outback like she normally does, but he slipped out through a gate accidentally left open.

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Alan, a 10-year-old dog, was stolen off his owner's front lawn in southwest Atlanta.

From: Supplied

"He was kind of wandering around and then came over to the front yard," Trinkle said.

She said it has happened before and was never a big deal. The pup usually comes back or doesn’t wander far.

The video showed Alan hanging out in the front yard when the abductor moved in.

Alan, a 10-year-old dog, was stolen off his owner's front lawn in southwest Atlanta. (Supplied)

"He coaxed Alan to come over and then eventually grabbed him by the collar," Trinkle said.

Trinkle said she has been heartbroken ever since, and so has her four-year-old daughter who wants to know where her friend went.

"It’s been really hard to explain to her, she keeps asking when Alan‘s coming home, and we keep telling her we hope he’s coming home."

Trinkle said her neighbors scoured their doorbell cameras for clues. Online, she has received a lot of support.

"Once we realized the scope of what had happened, we started sharing more, and then everybody’s been taking time to check everyone’s cameras they could’ve caught anything," she said.

According to a police report, Atlanta Police Department’s larceny investigators are on the case.

Alan, a 10-year-old dog, was stolen off his owner's front lawn in southwest Atlanta. (Supplied)

Trinkle said Alan does have a microchip.

As shelters are filled to capacity with dogs who need a home, it is not clear what this guy’s motive was.

"We just want Alan home," Trinkle said. "I just hope to god that he’s safe and that he can come back to us and, please know that you’ve taken a part of our family."

Investigators ask anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers of Greater Atlanta at 404-577-TIPS (8477).