Puppy-napped in Miami, bulldog is found in Milwaukee four years later

By: Jacqueline Alemany
Topics: Daily Blotter

Luna, 5-year-old English bulldog stolen in 2008, will soon be headed from Wisconsin back to Florida, for a reunion with her owner.

/ CBS

(CBS) MILWAUKEE - On New Year's Day in 2008, Isa Mendoza of Miami left her English bulldog, Luna, alone in her fenced-in yard for just a minute. When she came back outside, her puppy was gone. Stolen.

Now, more than four years later, Luna has been found...wandering as a stray...in Milwaukee.

All thanks to an embedded microchip, CBS Miami reports.

The bulldog, now five, was picked up by animal control in Wisconsin which learned a lot about her because of the microchip - and now, a dog and owner reunion is being planned.

Mendoza says she is thrilled.

"To know she's alive and is on her way over to me is heartwarming," Mendoza told CBS affiliate WTMJ. Luna is expected to be transported to Miami on Sunday.

In the meantime, Chrystal Reese and her husband, David, of West Allis are acting as Luna's foster parents.

Where Luna has been for the past four years or what happened to her is still a mystery.

"It's baffling how she ended up in Wisconsin from Florida," Reese told WTMJ.

Luna has a Caesarian scar, so she clearly has had puppies. "Unfortunately, she probably was bred at one point or another," Jessica Huber of the Milwaukee Area Domestic Animal Control Commission said.

Luna cost Mendoza $850 at a pet shop so chances are Luna was a money maker if she was, in fact, used for breeding.

Mendoza awill be throwing a 'welcome-home' party to celebrate Luna's homecoming next week, CBS Miami added.

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by andie52 August 24, 2012 11:17 AM EDT: She and the dog are so lucky Never leave a dog or even a child alone in a backyard there are too many crazy people out there; Reply to this comment


by lillyhorton August 24, 2012 9:29 AM EDT: Our animal shelter can't read those chips. This dog was fortunate enough to have been picked up by people who care. Our animal shelter doesn't always give the animal a week befor it is either euthanized or sold to a lab some where. I know this because when my daughter, who claimed the dog a week in advanced at the shelter, was told she couldn't have the dog because the dog was off to the east coast to be sold. I intervened and stopped the motion so they took a dog they had just brought in instead. In other words they promised the lab so many dogs and had to make a replacement. The owner of the other dog didn't have a chance. A city official took the dogs to the east coast.; Reply to this comment