PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Palm Beach County detectives are searching for a woman who authorities said stole a $2,800 puppy from a pet store.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office said surveillance images showed a woman wearing a face mask, white baseball hat, light purple sweatshirt, and black pants take the puppy from a viewing pen at Wet Kisses Pet Company, located at 6169 South Jog Road, around 4 p.m. on July 23.
The woman then put the black and white Pekingese-Maltese mix under her sweatshirt and left the store.
According to a sheriff's office incident report, the owner of Wet Kisses Pet Company said the woman came to the store and asked to look at a puppy. She then left several minutes later.
Employees later noticed the dog was gone.
"We just want to get it back so it’s safe," said Susan Minix, the store's owner. "That’s the most important thing."
The puppy is valued at $2,800, needs special care, and may be in danger, according to the store's owner. The animal has a microchip but it does not have tracking abilities.
"If the puppy gets stressed out in any way and the puppy doesn’t eat and it doesn’t get the supplements that we normally give, it could die. It could go into sugar shock and die," Minix said.
And while Minix waits on a safe return, she's already made changes in order to prevent any future crimes. Customers will now have to hand over their driver's license in order to look at any pets.
"It's an animal. It's something important to me," Minix said.
If you know who stole the puppy, call Crime Stoppers of Palm Beach County at 1-800-458-8477.
To the person who took a puppy from Wet kisses Pet Co, you were caught on camera and now you are #Wanted. Does anyone recognize this woman? pic.twitter.com/ooO4t9p8Bi
— PBSO (@PBCountySheriff) July 27, 2022