One area resident wants all township dog owners to be warned ? she thinks there is a professional dog snatcher in the area.
On two occasions last week, a Caberfae Trail resident, who asked not to be identified, reported to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department she believed a suspicious man tried to steal her golden retriever using a trained dog of his own.
‘There’s people who love their dogs as much as we love ours. I have nightmares about this type of thing. Thankfully, we don’t leave our dog unattended,? the Caberfae Trail resident said. ‘People need to know this is going on.?
The woman said she saw the same man drive past her residence on Feb. 21 and Feb. 24 in a small silver car. On the first occasion the man parked his car up the road. In both cases the German shepherd appeared in the woman’s driveway both times interacting with her dog.
The man then allegedly honked the car horn, in what the woman believes to be a pattern to get his dog to bring the other dog back to his car.
During the Feb. 21 incident, which occurred around 9:30 a.m., the woman grabbed the German shepherd by the collar to keep it away from her dog. Before she was able to read the dog’s tags, the man reportedly stepped from the vehicle calling to the woman to release his dog.
‘He began walking down the street towards me when I wouldn’t let his dog go,? said the woman. ‘I asked myself why would he ask me to let the dog go if (the dog) was running away.
‘There was no fighting (between the dogs), that dog is very well trained.?
In police reports, the man is described as a tall, thin white male with facial hair and a long winter coat. The woman estimated the man was about six foot tall.
The woman said the incidents fit in with a news broadcast she saw a few weeks ago about professional dog-napping rings in the Detroit area.
According to Sergeant Matt Baldes of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office Independence Township substation, the case is being taken seriously, but there was no clear link to any such professional dog-napping ring or conclusive evidence the case was an attempted dog snatching.
‘She didn’t indicate whether she saw the dog run out of the car. There are many other reasonable explanations,? said Baldes.
‘Until we find the individual and determine his purpose in the area, we can’t know. At this time, we don’t think it’s a dog napping ring.?
On Feb. 9, a black lab leashed in a front yard on Snow Apple Drive was stolen between 2:50 and 3:09 p.m. as reported in the Police and Fire section of The Clarkston News? Feb. 15 edition. The male purebred was a former leader dog for the blind with approximately $35,000 in training. The full cop log entry can be found on-line at www.clarkstonnews.com.
‘At this point, there’s nothing to put the two (cases) together,? said Baldes when asked if he believed the case on Caberfae Trail was linked with the Snow Apple Drive dog-napping. ‘We will keep the (three reports) together in case a common denominator pops up.?