OPP puts the bite on puppy nappers

[yvonnem]

from the Hamilton Spectator Oct 1, 2004

Haldimand County OPP Constable Paula Wright said two men tried to steal bullmastiff puppies from a home on River Road around 2 p.m. Wednesday. When the owner confronted the men, they beat her on the head with their hands, feet and an electric iron. She was taken to West Haldimand Hospital in Hagarsville with non-life threatening injuries. Police arrested two men when they showed up at Haldimand War Memorial Hospital in Dunnville with dog bites. The men, aged 35 and 37 have been charged with robbery with violence, mischief and assault with a weapon.
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This lady had advertised mastiff puppies for sale in the Hamilton paper. I went out to her house the week before to see 5 males and 1 female -- cute little things, mom was english mastiff with some dogue de bordeaux in her. I wanted an adult mastiff and didn't want to encourage BYB, but the boyfriend fell in love with one of the pups. I told him to think about it overnight and make a decision. He decided that he wanted one. So by October 1, all of the puppies had been sold. Oct 1 was the day she was taking them to the vet for their first shots and 2nd worming and she was going to keep them for another week until they were 8 weeks old and then we could pick up our baby.

What these people did was to get a woman to call about the puppies. When she was told that they were all spoken for, she begged to just come out and see them. The owner of the pups said okay. She moved mother mastiff out of the fenced yard to the barn because she still gets a little agitated when strangers handle the pups. The woman showed up (no sign of the guys) and the next thing the owner knows the woman is tossing the puppies over the fence to the guys. She tries to stop her and is not successful. She goes into the house to call the cops. One of the guys follows her in, rips the phone off the wall and starts beating her with it. The other guy comes in and grabs an electric curling iron and starts beating her with it. Then they escape with 2 of the 6 puppies -- but not before mother mastiff gets out of the barn and bites both guys.

Then they dump the puppies at the side of the road in Dunnville before going to the hospital to have the bites looked after. Fortunately, someone found the pups before they could get run over and they were returned to their home.

The owner of the puppies calls on Friday -- can we pick the pup up a week early? My boyfriend goes out to find the owner black and blue, huge stitches up the back of her head where they beat her with the phone, she can barely stand. So we get the puppy a little early. He was not one of the ones grabbed by the puppy nappers but she is worried that he may be traumatized by the whole screaming and yelling and cops and ambulance because mother mastiff has been in an absolutely foul mood ever since it happened.

So now we have a mastiff puppy:

[mastifflover]

I agree I don't support BYB but I don't think anybody should be subjected to that type of horror. I honestly hope she will be okay and I am glad they got the guys. That poor mother dog she will take a while before she will let anybody near her pups again. I think it was a smart move by the woman to release the pups early. The mother dog would become even more protective and probably get aggressive if she felt her pups were in danger. If the law doesn't punish these guys enough let mommy mastiff have a go at them.

[Writing4Fun]

OMG What a face!! How adoreable is that puppy?! No wonder you guys fell in love! I'm with mastifflover on this one - I may not agree with the BYB thing, but I don't think anyone deserves what that woman got. How horrid! I am so happy that momma dog got to inflict a little punishment of her own before they got away. Good luck with that beautiful baby of yours!!

[krdahmer]

What a cutie....enjoy your new pup... and I hope momma pup took a good chunk out of those buggers!!!

[glasslass]

Such a sweet little guy! Truly horrifying those people could be so brazen. They got what they deserved! Should have been eaten!

[Bugsy]

Soooo Cute

Take lots of photos...

[pitbulliest]

What a precious sweetheart...definately a keeper.. keep the pics rolling...that is too cute!

[mastifflover]

Cant wait to meet your puppy Buddy will have a new friend. Once he has all his shots and is ready to play call us and we will get together. I am so glad you found your baby. Now as the pup grows your husband wont even notice how big he is getting. He is very very cute. good luck

[Akeeter]

Yup, BYB's even shouldn't expect this kind of awful thing to happen, but i hope it points out why pets should Never be advertised in newspapers, etc. You never know who will arrive at your door & for what purpose.

[jackieb]

the puppy ios gorgeous!

[lilpaws]

What were those people thinking? Did they want them for themselves or to sell? If they were going to sell the puppies...dah don't they realize that they more than likely would have been caught? I am very glad that Momma had a bite or 2 to say. Did they get caught then and are they being charged? The pic is too cute, very kissable puppy!

[jaynessurfin]

I was morrtified after learning about my male mastiffs girlfriend's mama getting
beat up. How dare anyone enter her home and do this horrific thing to such a nice lady. She is such a warm country gal always with a smile and very much into helping animals. I hope they throw the book at all three of them, this is a wonderfull hard working family that would only enrich someones life by knowing them. Having owed the male I felt terrible that this has happened upon visiting her after the fact she was going through a rough time with speach and motor skills. is life so tough for these punks that they felt they had to do this rather than getting a full time job and contributing to the community like every one eles in life. Please be carefull people always have someone with you when showing the darlings. I feel sick about this. i just want to give her a big hug and say how very sorry this happened to such a nice person chin up girl ok. Ps those pups were ace..... jayne

[heidiho]

UHHHHHHHHHH!!! HOW CUTE......................

[Iggette]

ohhhhhhh he is so sweet looking

How sad though what the poor woman endured.....hope it was a lesson learned