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By Max Jaeger
Brooklyn Daily
It was “Gone In 60 Seconds” — puppy style.
Three men burst into a puppy store in Marine Park and made off with a $1,000 puppy on March 25. The store’s owner said the puppy pilferers were in and out with their shanghaied Shih Tzu before anyone knew what happened.
“It all took about 60 seconds,” said David Deitz, who owns Puppy Paradise on Flatbush Avenue.
The staff did not immediately realize the gold-and-white male pup, which they named Pal, was gone.
The store rents out puppies for kids’ parties, and Pal was scheduled to work Tuesday afternoon, Deitz said. It was not until staff went to prep the pooch that they realized it was gone, and after a brief search, a check of the security footage revealed the hound heist.
“We went back to the tape, and we saw the dog being puppy-napped,” he said.
Deitz said the tape showed three large men come into the store, enter the “secure puppy room,” unlatch Pal’s cage, and stuff the pup into a jacket before fleeing the store.
Deitz believes the men came in to rob the register, but seeing several customers, decided to cut their losses and steal the canine instead.
“They were not family people coming in for a pet,” he said. “They were definitely out of character to be in the store.”
Deitz has released the security video of the heist in the hope that it might help bring the dog-nappers to justice — and bring Pal back home.
This is not the first time Puppy Paradise has had to track down a poached pup.
Two years ago, someone swiped a pricey Yorkshire terrier from the store, Deitz said. Cops collared the crooks, but the dog had already changed hands. The teen who bought the hot dog felt bad, but did not want to confront store owners, so she sent them first to the Canarsie Cemetery on 86th Street. There Deitz said he found a note pinned to a tree directing him to a nearby diner. Deitz found the dog at the diner and, after he hounded the waitstaff — who though the adorable pup was a gift from the girl and did not want to give it up — he finally reclaimed the purloined pup.
Deitz said he is hoping for a similar outcome to this canine caper, though he could stand a bit less intrigue.
“We hope that since the dog is hot, somebody will say something,” he said.