Things are looking up for Godiva, the lab/pit bull mix at the Humane Rescue Alliance whose puppies were kidnapped when they were three and a half weeks old. Another of them was recovered Thursday night, meaning she is now back with five of her puppies.
Yet the great news is still shadowed by the two that remain missing.
“While we take a sigh of relief each time one of Godiva’s puppies is brought in, we’re worried sick over the [other] puppies who are still missing and who desperately need to be with their mother during this critical developmental period,” Humane Rescue Alliance wrote in an email earlier this week.
After news outlets reported that Humane Rescue Alliance was offering $7,500 to anyone with information leading to any of the six missing puppies, four separate people came forward, all suspecting their new puppies had unknowingly been purchased from the kidnapped litter. And, indeed, they were.
The puppies, named Aries, Link, Apollo, and Oli, are now back in the care of Humane Rescue Alliance and are now reunited with their mother Godiva as well as their sister, Glitter.
Glitter was the sole puppy recovered earlier this month after humane law enforcement officers executed a search and seizure warrant at a Northeast DC house. Godiva and her litter of seven had been living with a foster family at the time they went missing.
“We’ve had this foster program for more than a decade and foster thousands of animals per year into homes,” said Chris Schindler, vice president of field services at the Humane Rescue Alliance, this morning. “That’s really what helps our life saving work, and we’ve never come across this situation.”
He added that he couldn’t provide any more details about the foster family, as the situation is still under investigation, though he did say that humane law enforcement officers have been in touch with the family.
“We don’t have information to share at this stage on whom we think may be responsible because we’re still investigating all possible angles,” Schindler said. “We hope to have more information to share by next week, but our primary focus right now has been to identify where the puppies may be considering how vulnerable they are.”
As promised, the three people who came forward will each receive the $7,500 reward—which is still on the table for anyone else who comes forward with information leading to any of the puppies. The rescue says it will work with the families to return the puppies to them once they are mature enough to be separated from their mother and littermates.
“We’re hopeful this will inspire others who might have information to come forward for both the welfare of the puppies, and peace of mind for our community and staff,” Humane Rescue Alliance wrote in a press release last Thursday.
“We’re not looking to penalize anyone that may unknowingly have them; we just want to ensure their health,” said Schindler. “We would work with them to make sure that once the puppies were old enough, we could reunite them.”
This post has been updated.
