HOUSTON – Thieves broke into a pet store Thursday morning and the whole incident was caught on surveillance video.
The owners of Pet City Houston told KPRC 2 that two armed men used a crowbar to break into the store about 5:30 a.m. and stole seven valuable puppies, including five English bulldogs, a Schnauzer and one Maltese puppy.
John Etheridge of Pet City Houston said he is worried the dog nappers will mistreat the fragile animals.
"This is devastating because they took the bulldogs, which are high-maintenance dogs, especially in the heat. You keep them out in the heat too long – they can kill them," said Etheridge.
The burglars also stole the store safe. Etheridge said he is convinced the thieves are former employees.
"There's too many clues and everything that happened to make us believe it's someone we know because of how they came in, how they left (and) what they took," he said.
Etheridge said the English bulldogs sell for $3,500 each while the Schnauzer and Maltese puppy are worth $1,200 each. He said he is worried less about the money and more about the welfare of the dogs.
Pet City Houston remains open for business and police are searching for the masked thieves. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call Houston police.