In the middle of the Texas "icepocolypse" last week, a couple braved the storm to get dinner. They left their dog outside, but when they returned, she was gone -- stolen.
Crawford and Mary Clay Gupton Friday found the lock to their back yard dog run cut and their 10-month-old Greater Swiss Mountain puppy "Heidi" missing. Police confirmed that she had been stolen, according to WFAA-TV.
"Heidi" is a Greater Swiss Mountain Dog, puppy. She's a large breed traditionally from colder climates, which is why her owners argue it wasn't cruel of them to leave her outside during the winter weather that hit Texas last week. But someone disagreed and stole the dog from the owner's back yard. (Image source: Imgur/Reddit)
By Tuesday, Heidi was still missing, so the Guptons thought they would try social media's hand at finding out what happened. Within hours, they had their answer.
The Gupton's posted a picture of Heidi on the social news site Reddit with an offer for a $2,000 reward and got a strong, curse-word filled response accompanied with a picture from a Redditor claiming to have taken the dog.
"You don't really know me and I don't really know you but I have seen you a few times over the last few years. Mostly when you'd let your old dog sh** in my lawn and also when your new one would do the same," the user going by dogthesaver wrote (redacted). "Thanks for leaving it all for me to pick up too. I really appreciated it."
Dogthesaver went on to say that he noticed Heidi outside Friday in the freezing temperatures without food, water or a blanket. Dogthesaver felt this was wrong.
The owners to WFAA said the dog's breed is accustomed to the cold.
"Not wanting such a sweet dog to freeze to death I headed home, grabbed some tools and headed back. It’s now been close to 7 hours since I first saw her, temps are in the teens and that poor dog is ice cold," dogthesaver wrote. "I cut off the lock, took her home and that’s when the real fun started."
Watch WFAA-TV's report:
The owners told KDFW-TV they had left the dog outside for three hours in one instance and then two in another.
"This dog is bred to not live in Texas. It's actually bred to live in Switzerland, and this dog can handle this kind of temperature," Crawford told KDFW.
Mary Clay Gupton made an upset appeal to the dognapper to return Heidi. (Image source: WFAA-TV)
Dogthesaver wrote that once at this other home, Heidi ate three bowls of food, didn't have a collar and exhibited other signs that the Redditor saw as examples that Guptons were poor pet owners.
According to dogthesaver, Heidi had "bonded to her new family" and showed "no signs of being depressed or angry and is having an absolute blast playing with two other dogs her size."
The person claiming to have rescued Heidi on Reddit posted this photo, saying she was enjoying her time with this other family. The Redditor accused Heidi's owners of neglect. (Image source: Imgur/Reddit)
In a plea on KDFW's segment Wednesday, Mary Clay said, "she's our baby. Please, please, please just bring her back. We're absolutely blown away."
Crawford said he and his wife not only took good care of the dog, but "spoiled" it, according to KDFW.
In a statement to the news station, the "rescuer," who refused to go on camera or be identified by name, said his family plans to bring the dog back after she is evaluated by a veterinarian and given "clean bill of health."
Watch KDFW-TV's report about the dog theft:
The couple contacted the Fort Worth Police Department whose spokesperson called the situation "very disturbing," according to WFAA.
--
[related]
