A little girl from Melbourne, Australia, was heartbroken when her beloved puppy went missing after their home was burglarized, and the family appealed again and again through the media to have their little dog returned. Three days later, to their surprise, they saw something moving around outside in their backyard.
After mom Elena Sardi and her 4-year-old daughter, Maia Hood, came back from the doctor on the morning of Nov. 6, 2017, they found that their house in Croydon Hills had been burglarized. The thieves had stolen a laptop, an iPad, and jewelry. But what really devastated the family was that their brand-new puppy, Sasha, was missing too.
The 8-week-old Labrador pup had been with the family just for a week but was already “inseparable” from their little girl, according to Elena. Maia liked to play with Sasha and would fall asleep in the puppy’s bed every night.
“I was heartbroken, I’m still shaking … we are really sad,” Elena told ABC News. “I don’t care about the rest, but the dog, we want her home as soon as possible.”
“It’s been tough, my daughter has had nightmares the first night,” Maia’s father, Ryan Hood, told Today. “It’s very difficult to explain to a four-year-old how something like this could happen, you never think that they would take a puppy.”
The story of the burglarized puppy made headlines throughout Australia. Victoria Police also mentioned through social media that the animal was microchipped. Perhaps it was all the publicity, but, somehow, the message seemed to have gotten out, for the little puppy reappeared in their yard three days after she'd gone missing.
“We didn’t want to get our hopes up,” Ryan told Australia’s Today. “And then this morning, my wife got up to make herself a coffee, walked past the sliding door, and noticed that there was a figure moving by the kennel.”
“We think that whoever took her has either has a conscience or got scared and just dropped her over the fence,” the dad added. “We don’t care, to be honest, we’re just glad to have her back.”
