MIAMI – A South Florida woman was grateful to be reunited with her beloved dog Wednesday afternoon after two men were captured on surveillance video with the Shih Tzu named Potato.
Christina Pino told Local 10 News that Potato was taken on Dec. 23. He was returned Wednesday after a Local 10 News report at noon on Potato’s disappearance.
Surveillance video shows two men outside a window treatment store on Northeast 59th Street, west of Fourth Avenue, in the City of Miami.
Pino believes her dog, who was wearing a green collar but no tags, slipped out the front door of the business and encountered the men seen in the video playing with the dog in the grass.
One of the men is then seen picking the dog up and the two men walk away with him.
Potato’s owner doesn’t believe this was a malicious theft, and believes the men may have thought they encountered a dog that was lost, but wishes the men would have asked around a little first to see if anyone knew who owned the dog before walking away with him.
Pino said her family even hired a pet detective in hopes of finding Potato.
“I don’t think that they had bad intentions with Potato. I think that maybe they were playing with him. He’s a really cute dog,” Pino said.
After offering a $3,500 reward for his safe return, Pino was reunited with Potato outside her business.