Video shows dog being stolen outside restaurant, family says
By Adi Guajardo
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NEW YORK (WCBS) — A family is distraught after they say their dog was stolen in broad daylight outside a Queens restaurant.
They’re now pleading with the public to help bring her home.
Maria Ospina said she was sitting outside Fonda La Consentida, located off 55th Road and Borden Avenue in Maspeth, on Oct. 19 around 1:15 p.m. as she waited for her parents to finish work.
Her family’s dog, a 2-year-old Frenchie named Chanel, was sunbathing nearby.
Surveillance footage shows the driver of a black sedan pull up. Then, a passenger gets out, walks over, grabs Chanel and gets back in the vehicle. The driver takes off, and moments later, Ospina can be walking over and searching for Chanel.
“Not even a minute because I just looked at my baby for, like, I think 20 or 30 seconds, and then when I look up, the dog wasn’t there,” Ospina said.
The family put up missing dog posters throughout the neighborhood, and Ospina said they search for her every day.
They add they’re worried about Chanel’s health because she was taken to the hospital in September to be treated for a skin condition that requires medication.
Ospina said Chanel is a service dog for her family.
“She was really like my emotional support dog for me,” she said.
Her father, Jhon Ospina, said Chanel helps him walk and manage his diabetes.
“I’m not asking for them to, like, give me an explanation why they take the dog, but just take her to the shelter, to the police station or just give it back to me ’cause she really means a lot to our family,” Maria Ospina said.
Chanel’s owners are offering a reward to anyone with information that leads to the dog’s safe return home.
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