Return of stolen dog “best present ever” for SPCA

PENTICTON – Staff and volunteers at the Penticton SPCA are celebrating the return of Cooper, a one year old miniature pinscher-pug mix stolen from the Penticton SPCA in October.

Someone scaled the shelter fence and cut a hole in the building to steal the dog, which was one of 14 dogs and seven horses seized from a Vernon property.

A number of tips followed the theft, but RCMP were unable to locate the dog.

“Being united with Cooper is the best Christmas present I could imagine,” Penticton SPCA manager Corrine Ross says. “I don’t know why, but I always had a feeling we’d find him again.”

A tip about Cooper’s whereabouts was received on Dec.15 through social media and RCMP attended to the property in question, where they found the dog.

“The police didn’t have enough evidence to warrant charges,” Ross says. She adds the people who had the dog had just received it from someone else.

Ross said Cooper was placed in a foster home right away, and would probably be adopted quickly.

“Little dogs are easy to adopt. We’ll find a home for him right away,” she says. “We are just so relieved and happy that he is home for the holidays.”

To contact the reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad at sarstad@infonews.ca or call 250-488-3065. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.