Four show
dogs on the way to the yearly AKC/Eukanuba dog show were stolen from
the van parked at Motel 6 in Bellflower.
Reporter:
Fran Milteer
TheDogPress
Long
Beach, CA - November
|30|10
Handler
Tamara Houser’s two Akitas, the male a top ranked dog, and two Welsh
Corgis, slept in the white 2006 Chevrolet cargo van just outside the
room. Other short coated dogs were taken inside the motel room with
Tamara’s close friend and assistant, Christina Rickard.
The motel
has three security guards so when Christina and a friend walked the
dogs about 11:30 they felt perfectly safe even though there were
only a few other vehicles parked there. The horror began when
Tamara called at 6:30 the next morning and
Christina
immediately
realized the van was gone!
Tamara’s
white cargo van should have already been spotted. The black tack
box on the rear could have been removed but probably not the dog
stickers on the back windows. The fact that it hasn’t been spotted
is discouraging.
Assuming
that the van was the object of the theft doesn’t make sense unless
the thief assumed it contained some kind of valuable equipment. If
that were so, imagine the surprise when a fearsome male Akita was
discovered inside! Even crated, it would take a brave thief to
climb in that van. Then there’s the loud ruckus two Corgis would
have made, surely enough to send a would-be car thief running from
the scene? Why risk it when there were other vehicles in the motel
parking lot? Christina couldn’t have heard the barking and let’s
face it, we sleep through dogs barking at shows, but the thief
should have been frightened away.
There is
speculation that it was the work of an experienced dog person. That
leads to the “why?” question. The Akita is believed to be in the
top five and Eukanuba was looking good for him as well as the
Japanese import Corgis.
This edition was held for a more in-depth interview with
Tamara scheduled for Wednesday evening but we found out late last
night (Dec 1st) that the two Akitas have been recovered.
Details and hopefully “Corgis Found!) will be in the next edition.
http://www.thedogpress.com/SideEffects/Showdogs-Stolen-10121_Milteer.asp
*UPDATE*
Stolen Showdogs Recovered
Side
Effects
