A Baltimore woman who feared her stolen Pug was the victim of a dognapping ring received good news this week.
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ThomasBaltimore police, who initially downplayed Sherries stolen dogs report, recovered Ritchie three days after his disappearance.
But that action only came after Sherrie contacted her city councilman and did some detective work on her own.
My backyard is like Ft. Knox, Sherrie T. told us. I have a four-foot wooden privacy fence. Theres no way my dogs could escape.
As ConsumerAffairs.com reported last month, Sherri immediately posted flyers around her neighborhood after the dogs disappeared on Friday, July 20.
She also contacted the animal shelters in Baltimore, her veterinarians office, the Mid-Atlantic Pug Rescue organization, and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Sherries first break came on July 21 when two teenagers saw her searching the neighborhood.
(They) said theyd seen my dogs leaving a (nearby) house and being put into a black car. They didnt get a license plate on the car, though.
Sherries neighbors immediately took a flyer to that house, located in the 5100 block of Belair Road in N.E. Baltimore.
Around 9:45 p.m. on Saturday, I got a call from a woman who said she had one of my dogs. She said she wasnt sure where my other dog was.
Sherrie became suspicious when the caller demanded a reward for her dogs safe return.
No reward
I told her there was no reward because my dogs were stolen. I also told her there was a national search for my dogs and that some teenagers had seen my dogs taken from the house on Belair Road.
The woman said she didnt want any trouble -- but wanted a reward -- and claimed someone had taken the dog to her moms house.
The caller finally told Sherrie she could come and get her dog. But the address and phone number she gave me turned out to be bogus.
Sherrie then contacted the Baltimore Police Department and asked officers to meet her at the Belair Road house -- the last known location of her dogs.
The police told me it wasnt an emergency and never showed up, Sherrie told us. I waited for them for three hours in front of the house on Belair Road.
Police didnt get involved in Sherries case until she contacted Baltimore City Councilman Nicholas DAdamo.
He called me at 9:30 Monday night, Sherrie said.
Less than two hours later, Baltimore police dispatched five patrol cars to the house on Belair Road.
Thats how they were able to locate the woman who called me and demanded a reward for my dogs, Sherrie said. Her story to them is that she found the dogs walking the neighborhood and that my other dog was hit by a car. But she couldnt say where that accident occurred.
At 11:30 p.m. on Monday, July 23, police officers recovered Ritchie from the woman who demanded a reward from Sherrie. But she wasnt at the Belair Road house when they retrieved him. She was at another house not far away.
Never gave up
Sherrie said she never gave up hope about finding Thomas.
I figure that if I got one of my dogs back, Ill get the other one back, too.
She continued to hang up flyers, contact the local shelters, and pound the pavement.
Someone said they thought they saw a dog jump out the window of that black car, Sherrie said, adding both Pugs had microchips that can be used to identify them. I think Thomas is somewhere nearby.
Her instincts were right.
A lady about seven blocks away had seen him and had been taking care of him for a few weeks, Sherrie told us late Wednesday. She saw my flyers and brought him home.
Baltimore police told ConsumerAffairs.com they considered Sherries case the mysterious disappearance of two dogs.
A spokesman said there were no eyewitnesses who saw the Pugs being stolen. He also said there was no evidence the woman who had Ritchie stole the dog. Authorities have not charged anyone in connection with the case.
Dognapping problem
Meanwhile, Councilman DAdamo said dognapping is a problem in Baltimore.
It happens a lot, he told us. We have a problem with Pit Bull fighting. In the last two years, Pit Bull fighting has become big on the entire East Coast.
The U.S. Humane Society and other animal rights organizations say dogs are often stolen and used as bait to train Pit Bulls.
But police can never catch those involved, Councilman DAdamo said of the problem in his city. Its hard to say who is doing it. We see the animals when theyre dead -- after the fact. Theyre holding these fights in places where no one is around.
DAdamo said no one comes forward with information about these dogfighting cases -- or other violent crimes.
Were the second most violent city in the country. We have people killed on the street every day. But people dont want to get involved. Its sad. We shouldnt live like this.
Dogfighting task force
In the past month, however, Baltimore police and city health officials have formed a multi-agency dogfighting task force to crack down on this blood sport, noting its connection to drug dealing and illegal gambling.
Police acknowledge that dogfighting has been popular for years in Baltimore. Most of the fights are held in rowhouse basements, they said. But theyre rarely prosecuted because the city is overwhelmed with other violent crimes.
Detectives, however, will now investigate dogfighting rings and collect evidence against organizers, trainers, breeders and spectators.
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