On April 13, 2024, a shiba inu puppy was stolen from Petland Frisco at Preston Road and Gaylord Parkway.
According to Fox4, security cameras recorded footage of a woman, possibly wearing a wig, entering the store. She paused in front of a black and white shiba inu puppy, expressing a desire to interact with it. A staff member facilitated her request, bringing her to a designated socialization area with the puppy.
Update 4/19/24 | 10 a.m. According to CBS News, a man in disguise returned the puppy to Petland Frisco. A veterinarian examined the puppy and confirmed it to be in perfect health. The suspect remains at large.
“We were really worried," Marce Narváez, the kennel manager told CBS. "We didn't know if she was eating, if she was drinking water or playing. We feel they are our family more than puppies… We are really happy right now to have her again.”
The original story continues below.
Shortly after the staff member left the room, the woman walked out of the store with the puppy in her arms. Cameras captured her driving away in a black Dodge van.
Petland Frisco posted a photo of the dog on social media, as well as security camera footage of the woman.
“Please help #friscopd identify this woman who stole a beautiful Shiba Inu puppy from us this weekend,” Petland Frisco wrote in the post. “We are very concerned for the puppy's well-being.”
But this isn’t the first time a puppy was stolen from the pet store. As Local Profile previously reported, on Oct. 24, 2023, Petland staff reported that a woman requested permission from an employee to spend time with an 11-week-old miniature schnauzer in one of the store's socialization rooms. As the employee went to fetch the puppy's records, the store's security cameras recorded the woman hastily leaving the store and making a dash for her vehicle. It was not revealed if the puppy was returned.
Frisco police told Local Profile they are not able to link the two incidents.
In April 2023, the Texas Attorney General initiated an investigation into Petland over suspected breaches of consumer protection laws concerning animals from puppy mills. On April 27, a Civil Investigative Demand (CID) was issued, seeking documentation from the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) concerning the Midwest puppy mills supplying Petland, as well as Petland's internal procedures. Despite Petland's claims of not obtaining animals from puppy mills, evidence from public records and HSUS inquiries indicates otherwise.
HSUS launched undercover investigations at Texas Petland locations in Frisco and Tyler, starting in 2019. The Frisco store faced citations for purported breaches of the city's animal control ordinance following HSUS's submission of evidence regarding undernourished and sickly puppies.
Initially halted due to an HSUS investigator contracting campylobacter, a bacterial illness transmissible from animals to humans, the Frisco probe resumed. Subsequent investigations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention uncovered a connection between over 100 cases of campylobacter infections in humans and puppies sourced from Petland stores.
If you possess any information about the individual's or puppy's whereabouts, contact the Frisco Police Department at 972.292.6000.
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