A 14-year-old boy walking a 3-month-old German shepherd in San Leandro was held up at gunpoint by two men who took the puppy and fled, police said.
“Nothing was taken, just the dog,” said Lt. Robert McManus, a spokesman for the San Leandro Police Department. He said the incident marked the first dog-napping his department has investigated.
The holdup unfolded Monday, when the teen took his puppy — named Maya — for an evening stroll on Dayton Avenue in what is typically a quiet San Leandro neighborhood.
About 8:30 p.m., the boy and his dog were confronted by two men who rolled up in a light-colored car. The passenger got out and tried to snatch Maya, but the boy resisted. Then the driver emerged with a gun.
“It was clear they wanted to rob him of the dog,” McManus said.
Maya is a purebred black shepherd, a breed that’s fairly common in the Bay Area — which doesn’t make it any less desirable, said Rebecca Katz, head of Oakland Animal Services.
“People dog-nap all kinds of dogs, sometimes for breeding, sometimes for fighting,” Katz said.
So far there have been no clues about what happened to the puppy, and police continued to hunt for the robbers Friday morning.
Anyone with information can contact the San Leandro Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Division at (510) 577-3230
Puppy knapping
Puppy knapping
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