Machete-wielding robbers snatch nine-week old puppy from inside home
A nine-week-old puppy has been kidnapped from its owners by masked robbers armed with a machete and an axe.
The puppy was snatched from the home of David Waters in Glasgow on Wednesday evening, just seconds before his partner returned home.
Waters, 20, said he answered the doorbell and three men wearing balaclavas put an axe and Stanley knife to his head.
He said: "They had the Stanley knife to my face and told me don't move.
"Then they went into the living room and grabbed Cairo (the puppy) and ran down the street, and turned left, and jumped into a car.
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"I had no power to do anything, had to watch him get taken off me. It was horrible."
His partner Caitlin Maley said she initially believed Waters was joking when he called her to tell her what happened.
She said she was round the corner at the time and missed it by seconds.
Maley, 21, said: "I'm devastated and so worried. Can't believe that someone would come into my own home and do this. I'm just worried about him."
The couple had only had the American bulldog for two weeks and it had not even been on its first walk.
They believe they were targeted after sharing the dog on Instagram.
Maley said she heard people outside the house at 4am the previous night.
She said: "We have no idea what's happening. But it must be targeted. They know we stay here and know we have the dog and that's the only reason they came.
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The pair have put out a £2,000 reward fee on social media in the hope that someone can return their puppy.
They said an unknown business donated a large amount of the reward, along with many others who have seen it shared on social media.
Maley said: "We just want him found. Even if he gets passed to somebody and they take the reward, we don't care we just want him back."
The couple said they had to sleep with the lights on last night as they were so worried after the attack
An American bulldog puppy like Cairo can cost up to £1,000.
Detective Constable Christopher Sneddon appealed for anyone with any information about the attack, or information about attempts to sell the puppy to come forward.
He said: “Thankfully nobody has been injured as a result of this incident but the owner has been left evidently shaken.
“We are appealing to anyone who may have noticed three men acting suspiciously in the area to come forward and speak to officers.
A surge in demand for puppies during lockdown has resulted in prices going up and a rise in dog napping crimes.
Police recently launched a manhunt after a woman in Derbyshire was attacked and robbed of her miniature dachshund.
The 50-year-old was shoved to the ground by the two men who then stole her sausage dog.
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