Owners rat out shoplifting dog

Just before Christmas, surveillance video cameras at Smith’s grocery store in Utah captured a dog strolling into the store, picking out a rawhide bone and then making a clean getaway. The video was widely shown on TV and the internet. But the dog's owners hadn’t seen the video until recently.

"We'd had people tell us it looked a lot like her, but neither one of us had really paid attention or watched the video," owner John Stirling said.

Suspecting it was their dog, the Stirling family brought her back to the scene of the crime where employees made a positive identification of Akira, an 11-year-old Siberian Husky, including her electronic collar.

Not getting human laws for exchanging cash for merchandise, she again made her way to the pet aisle and the rawhide bones. Her humans paid twice for the bone when they checked out.

It seems that an invisible fence was supposed to curtail Akira’s crime sprees, but she was able to break away that day and walk 5.9 miles, even crossing under two freeways to reach the store. Then she walked back, a round trip of nearly 12 miles.

This might make a good Disney movie except for, you know, the crime aspect.

"She's a roamer.” Stirling said. “She likes to get out and roam, and nothing will keep her inside.” The story

So much for my theory that a dog-Fagin was operating in the area.

Comments

[schnoodlepooh]

that's a pretty funny story. that dog is our idol.

[Shannon]

That is just too funny! We have a dog who roamed all over the place when he was young. He did about a four mile loop to say hi to all the neighboring dogs, cats, and sheep. I am so greatful that he is older and happy to sit on the porch and wait for people to pass by him instead!

[Khyra]

Akhtually, it is furry disappointing these 'owners' seemed to think it was funny...

Akira was furry lukhky pup to have not gotten hurt/hit/or worse...

Siberians are NOT a furry good fit fur THOSE kind of fences...

Hugz&Khysses,
Khyra

[Blogdog]

I love that story! Brillant!

[Jimmy]

Oh my goodness.....this is like a Paul Harvey story......"and now......the rest of story" LOL!!!
Great follow-up!

[Tom and Icy]

The amazing part is that the dog managed to open the package; even the humans have a hard time with that these days.

[Julie]

You would think her owners would notice more bones around the place than what they had bought. Or was the dog smart enough to stash them somewhere before coming home? It would be fun to put a video camera on her collar and let her go again.

[Amber Sunshine]

Awww...what a silly smart dog...How awkward for the owners though...better their dog than a human kid or something like that ;)

[jackie]

that cracks me up...my friend shady lane used to work at a vets office and she said there are dogs that are called 'runners'..you can give them a home and do everything right and one day the dog will decide to take off and boom it's gone. might come back..might not..i had a great dane 'baby' like that he found me..stayed with me for a while then would run off finally gave him to someone out in the country that had a big fenced in yard where he could run...he stayed there for about 3 months and then jumped the fence and moved across the road to another house, where they let him sleep inside in stead of in the barn...3 months later..he was gone...

[Wendy]

And there's a perfectly good reason to not trust those invisible fences. Husky's are great escape artists, I'm surprised this one stopped at shoplifting and didn't take up cat (or dog) burglary.

Note to self: must video Greta paying for her Greenies.

[Biggie-Z]

We saw this on CNN and had to watch it a few times to make sure they weren't saying "KHYRA"! Khyra, you are absolutely right. There are some dogs that just shouldn't be contained with an electric fence. Huskies and malamutes for sure, kuvasz too.

[Ayatollah Mugsy]

I, too, have had run-ins with the law. But my parents never snitched on me.

[Sue]

I say ban bad owners not specific breeds!

[Col]

Now that's a dog on a mission. :-)

[Jean]

I'm happy to see a follow up on this story. Too funny for words.

Levi's mom

[James]

This dog must be a true explorer. My dog has never managed to get out of his electronic fencing. I am so lucky.

[Harvey Shepherd]

Heh. That does sound adorable in its own odd way. Still, at the very least, you can say that all's well that ends well. Luckily, the owners discovered the footage from the incident and they were able to settle it without a lot of fuss.