According to police, a Jack Russell terrier puppy was first stolen from the store November 12.
“When we opened up the store Tuesday morning, we noticed there was a dog missing. We don’t have a clue where that dog went,” said owner Wes Senft.
The next day, police say two men stole an English bulldog pup from its crate. They say two Hispanic men took the dog from the crate as an employee was helping other customers.
“The cages were locked. They pulled the puppy out of a small feeding door. They stuck it underneath their coat and ran out of the store with it. And people saw it happen,” Senft said.
Senft said these are the first dog thefts they’ve had in years. However, SPCA officials say dog thefts happen regularly.
“If you come into the SPCA you see all of our cages are padlocked. That’s the reason why we had to take that added security measure, to make sure people don’t steal animals,” said Melissa Smith of the York County SPCA.
Smith says crimes like these aren’t uncommon during the holidays.
“Certainly this time of year something we all think of is typically maybe it could be a gift for someone. But a lot of times they’re stolen for resale, because these puppies can bring in a high price,” she said.
As for Getty’s the owners have already made several changes to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again.
“We got security cameras installed now. Before we had an open-cage policy where people could come in and get the dogs out and play with them and socialize with them. Now everything’s locked down. We can’t afford a loss like that anymore,” Senft said.
Police say the two men believed to have stolen the puppies were last seen driving east on East Market Street in an older model black Ford pickup.