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This 2-pound, 9-week-old Yorkshire terrier puppy was unharmed after being petnapped from the shop that is offering her for sale.
Courtesy of Petland tucson
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Tucson Region

Tiny, $3,200 pup stolen; felony theft charge lodged

By Dale Quinn
arizona daily star
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 06.15.2007
Police nabbed a suspected puppy-snatcher after she slipped a tiny, pricey dog into her purse and sneaked out of a North Side pet store, an official said.
She might have gotten away, but Dionte Bates, 26, was picked up after stopping at a second pet store to get puppy supplies, said Sgt. Decio Hopffer, a Tucson Police Department spokesman.
Bates was arrested on suspicion of felony theft.
The dog, a 2-pound, 9-week-old Yorkshire terrier, is worth $3,200, said Petland owner Peter Sher.
That's $1,600 per pound, for those who are counting.
A woman had come into a Petland at 405 E. Wetmore Road, near North First Avenue, about 5 p.m. Wednesday and asked to look at a couple of puppies.
"She seemed to fall in love with this Yorkshire terrier," Sher said. "It's one of our most popular breeds."
She applied for a loan to purchase the dog but failed to qualify, he said. She told Sher she loved the dog, wanted it and would be back.
She returned to the store with two or three other people about an hour later. One filled out an application for financing, and another distracted a Petland employee, asking questions about fish and reptiles.
That's when the woman hid the dog in her purse and left, Sher said.
Employees called police and also alerted managers at nearby pet stores.
As police arrived at Petland, the manager of a Petco a few blocks away called to say she thought the woman was at her store.
At the Petco, at 4625 N. Oracle Road, the manager, Wynona Jarvis, said she had several workers distract the woman until police could get there, by talking about different types of puppy foods and bedding.
When Jarvis went outside to have a cigarette, she spotted the puppy in a car in the parking lot with another woman.
Police recovered the Yorkie, which was unharmed.
Hopffer said there may be further arrests in the case when it's turned over to the Pima County Attorney's Office.
"We don't get a lot of these cases," he said.
The puppy, as yet unnamed, is back up for sale, Sher said.
● Contact reporter Dale Quinn at 629-9412 or dquinn@azstarnet.com.
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