Chatham

Woman Pleads For Puppy's Safe Return After Being Stolen At Gunpoint on Chicago's South Side

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A woman on Chicago’s South Side is sharing her story in hopes to find her beloved puppy after it was stolen from her at gunpoint.

She said her Cane Corso was stolen at gunpoint Wednesday night in the city's East Chatham neighborhood.

“He’s a hyper little two-month-old puppy, dark gray coat, big blue eyes,” the victim said. “He’s just the sweetest. He whimpers when he sees me because he knows who I am.”

Just days after receiving him as a birthday gift, the owner of the two-month-old Cane Corso is now making an emotional plea to find him.

“You can take him to a police station, contact the news outlets or whatever,” she cried. “Please give me my puppy back. That’s all I want you guys to do is just give me my puppy—that’s not a lot to ask for. Please, just give me my dog back.”

The 39-year-old victim who didn’t want to be identified said she has been crying non-stop, wondering if her puppy named Denim is okay.

“Everything in my house is reminding me of him, like he’s not there and I just want my puppy back,” she said. “Like, what did I do that was so wrong that they had to jump out and target me?”

The terrifying ordeal happened near E. 80th St. and S. Ingleside Ave. Wednesday just before 7:30 p.m.

The victim said she took her puppy out for a walk and was heading back home when they were held at gunpoint by three masked men who pulled up in an SUV believed to be a Jeep.

“They just sat at the corner by the stop sign across from the black gate,” she said. “As soon as I approached the black gate, the back doors opened to the truck and the two guys jumped out from the back; one from the passenger seat and they just put three guns to my face saying give me the dog and I just said here, I just had to give him up.”

The victim said she felt so helpless not being able to save Denim, and believes the armed suspects may have been watching her from afar.

“I was just defenseless out here,” she said. “It’s pathetic that you can’t walk down the street with your pet and not be held at gunpoint just for them to take the dog—for what a quick buck?”

The victim told NBC 5 her puppy requires special orthopedic attention, and she worries about his health.

“I was supposed to take him into the orthopedic on Monday and I can’t even do that because they took him away from me before I could even do that to make sure he’s going to be okay,” she said.

She’s praying desperately that her puppy Denim is found safe and alive and that someone will turn him in.

“I couldn’t protect him because it was fight and have me be a fatality on the sidewalk and no one not find me for hours, and just give them the dog and still hope that I don’t become another statistic in the city of Chicago,” she said. “This is bad, like I’m fighting really hard not to cry because this is all I’ve been doing since yesterday is just crying non-stop. I just want my puppy back.”

So far, Chicago police only have a vague description of the suspects.

There are several surveillance cameras in the area, but police haven’t said if they were able to find any footage or if those cameras were working.

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