A deaf dog stolen from his home in Alabama last year has been found thousands of miles away in Arizona and has since reunited with his owner.
Rags, a 2-year-old deaf Old English Sheepdog, was stolen from his home in Silverhill, Alabama, on Dec. 9, 2023, by a masked intruder during a residential burglary, City of Maricopa Police Department spokesperson Monica Williams told USA TODAY in an email Thursday. Security footage captured from the theft shows the intruder walking into the house and leaving shortly after with Rags.
Olivia Gardner, Rags’ owner, told USA TODAY that the intruder knew “exactly what they were coming for.”
“They were in my house for no longer than a few seconds and walked out with Rags,” Gardner said, adding that she was at a Christmas parade at the time. Gardner said the front door was unlocked and her boyfriend, who was in the shower, heard the door but thought it was her returning home. When he didn’t hear anything, he got confused and “stopped the shower, got out and realized that something was off.”