It's every pet owner's worst nightmare: Cruel moment dog called Morticia is STOLEN from her 72-year-old owner by group of teens
A 72-year-old man was walking his beloved dog in Melbourne when a group of teenagers stole her right out of his hands, leaving him heartbroken.
Victoria Police are still searching for Morticia, a five-year-old white English Staffordshire terrier cross who was stolen on Saturday.
Officers said the pup was being walked along Huntingdale Road at about 2.30am by her owner when a group in a black Holden Commodore pulled over.
The teenagers, believed to be young men and women, made demands for his dog.
Ewa Gawrysiak, daughter of the owner Boguslaw, told news.com.au the teenagers in the car yelled 'we want the dog' and 'give us the dog'.
'[Dad] blew it off as drunks coming home after a night out,' she said, adding her family were shift workers so it wasn't unusual for her father to walk the dog at night.
Mr Gawrysiak was reportedly chased by one of the youths to a nearby convenience store on Waverley Road in Chadstone.
Ewa said her father hid with Morticia and tried to pull her back when one teenager patted her in the store.
An altercation occurred and the offenders stole the dog, police said. Mr Gawrysiak was not injured.
Police said the offenders fled the scene in the Commodore, which didn't have any numberplates, and they were last seen driving south on Huntingdale Road.
Investigators released images of the dog in the hope someone knows of her whereabouts.
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