The puppies were gone.

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Robert Bergeron loves his Elmwood neighborhood. He also loves dogs. For years, he owned two Shetland sheepdogs, but had to put the last one to sleep about 10 years ago. It was a heart-breaking loss, and he didn’t own another dog for years.

“I didn’t want to seem like I was replacing them,” he says.

Then he “puppy-sat” for his niece’s Yorkshire terriers earlier this year, and he began thinking about adopting a puppy. He met with a breeder and found they had only two males from a recent litter. After some consideration, he decided to give both of them a home, naming them Davy and Frankie.

Bergeron says the dogs were a perfect fit, and he fell in love with the precocious black-and-tan pups. But his pet ownership happiness took a bizarre twist recently when burglars broke into the home and took the two dogs.

“Two guys broke into the house in the middle of the day through a side window where I had a window unit air conditioner,” he says.
Nothing else was stolen, and Bergeron is offering a $1,000 for the animals’ return.

“It’s been very upsetting. I was very attached to the two puppies,” he says. “It was so wonderful to see them growing. It’s been horrendous.”

The Yorkies weighed 4.5 pounds and recently had been neutered. The dogs have microchip identification, and Bergeron hopes a veterinarian might find them. This was the first time thieves have hit Bergeron’s home.

“I never, ever thought someone would break into my house and steal my puppies,” he says. “Just the other day I was saying what a great neighborhood I live in, and no one had been broken into on my street. And now this happens.”

Dallas Police Deputy Chief Rick Watson of the Southwest Patrol Division says to prevent similar types of break-ins, he recommends bolting air conditioning units to the inside of window frames. As for pet thefts, he says they are common, but that this type of pet burglary is rare because of the forced entry into the home.

“We have numerous incidents where pets are stolen from the yard,” Watson says.

Most pet thieves are either looking to sell a purebred animal or breed the animal. He says the burglar may have known or seen Bergeron’s puppies.

“You’ve got to have some inside knowledge,” he says.