Entire Dog Blog

Owners of 5 Chicago dogs stolen along with the dog day care van in which they were riding have put together $7,000 in reward money for the safe return of the dogs.

The van, a 2006 Ford E-150, was stolen while double parked on a Chicago (Illinois) road. An employee of the Dog Daycare company, Fetch & Play, was dropping off one of the dogs and left the van unlocked and running.

"When he came out, the van was gone. The dogs were gone. He called me right away," [Fetch & Play Owner Jose] Varela said. He said they first thought the city might have towed the van because it was double-parked, but once they learned it had been stolen they called police.

The driver had worked with Fetch & Play for about six months. Varela said he and his employees are "sick" over the incident.

"These dogs are part of the family," Varela said. "We just want their safe return. [The thieves] can keep the van."

The families with missing dogs are, understandably, a little more than "sick" over the incident. They're livid. And rightfully so. Anne Zellner's 2-year old Boxer Chloe is among the missing dogs.

"I'm kind of just in shock; it is so unbelievably irresponsible," Zellner said. "You pay these people good money . . . it's really a terrible thing."

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Anyone with information should call Belmont Area detectives at 312-744-8263.

FOLLOW-UP: Missing Chicago Fetch and Play Dogs Found Safe

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A Yahoo discussion group formed in July 2006 aims to create a nationwide Amber Alert system for dogs, similar to the system used by authorities to locate missing children.

The group, K9AmberAlert, currently lists nearly 3,000 members. Its home page states that the group can be used to post information regarding missing dogs in the US and Canada. Anyone is free to view the group's postings, but only registered members can post information to be viewed by others. As with all Yahoo groups, members can choose to view information through their web browsers or to have full-text posts or a summary digest of posts emailed to their inboxes.

The group's motto is "If we reunite only one dog with its owner, this list will have served its purpose."

This is a worthy endeavour, but it needs to be widely used to be effective. If you see a stray dog in your area, please remember to check K9AmberAlert. You may be able to reunite the dog with his family.