Pet-napper nabbed, pug puppy reported safe, say Colo. cops

(CBS/KCNC) LONE TREE, Colo. - A puppy pilfered from a pet store - a pug, no less - has been returned to its proper owner, and the perpetrator has been arrested, say Denver area police.

Surveillance video recorded the suspect playing with the $1,200 pug in the store in Lone Tree, Colo. Monday afternoon, reported CBS affiliate KCNC.

The woman spent some time with the dog, then left and returned to Just Pets a few hours later.

"(She) really liked her, said she was in love with her; was going to think about her and come back," store owner Lisa Stone said, according to KCNC.

Stone said the woman said she wanted to buy the dog but needed a few more minutes. Meanwhile, another customer came in to look at kittens. When Stone went to the back of the store the pug-napper dashed out the front door.

"I didn't see anybody anywhere; nobody running, no car, no nothing -- gone," Stone said.

According to the American Kennel Club, pet theft is a growing problem nationwide. Approximately 224 pets have been reported stolen in the first 7 months of this year compared with just 150 in the same period of time last year.