Missing puppy returned to owner
Published: January 27, 2005
A tip based on a lost-and-found ad helped a Richland breeder recover one of three missing English bulldog puppies Monday night, and Pulaski County deputies assisted with identifying the puppy and determining the rightful owner.
“Just in case anyone wonders why we are spending so much time on puppies, they are worth at least $1,000 each,” Chief Deputy Hondo Wooten of the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office.
Richland breeder Kelley Luttrell had posted advertisements and contacted media throughout Pulaski County after the Dec. 31 theft of her three English bulldog puppies, but the key information came from a from a St. James man who told Luttrell he knew a woman from rural Newburg who had recently acquired an English bulldog puppy.
Wooten said his deputies had no role in locating the puppy but arranged for Luttrell and the Newburg woman to meet at their office. Deputies used photos of the puppy’s markings to verify the puppy belonged to Luttrell.
Wooten said the Newburg woman did not provide information to deputies that would help them find the person who broke into Luttrell’s kennel and stole the three puppies.
“The lady said her house had been burglarized and the puppy had been left in her yard,” Wooten said.
Wooten said it was clear the Newburg woman wanted to keep the puppy and only turned them over to Luttrell once deputies determined from the markings that Luttrell was the rightful owner.
“The puppy was very well taken care of,” Wooten said. “It was a kind of tearful departure from the one lady and a tearful reunion with the other.”
Wooten said his department has assigned a deputy to the case and continues to search for leads.
“We have now suggested to her that she extend her area of announcing to Phelps County,” Wooten said.
Luttrell has paid a portion of the $1,000 reward money to the St. James man and continues to offer a reward for the return of the other two missing puppies.
“I want it known that there is still reward money out there,” Luttrell said. “I feel very confident that with this puppy turning up in Newburg, the other puppies are still in this area.”
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