A litter of newborn puppies was stolen from the home of a Kamloops dog breeder after she died suddenly nearly two weeks ago. Two families who bought a puppy before her death are now out thousands of dollars.
Katie Gartner and her family in Penticton were excited to get a dog. They researched breeds and breeders until they finally decided on a blue-blooded Alapaha Bulldog from the Kamloops kennel. They had named him “Alligator”.
Gartner says they paid the full price of $3,000 for the dog, but were unable to get him home before he and his littermates disappeared.
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Instead, they received a message saying the dog’s breeder, Dainya Watson, 33, had died suddenly and the entire litter, eight six-week-old puppies, was missing.
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“We contacted the roommates she lived with who owned the puppies when she passed,” said Kierston Burton-Weatherhead, Dainya Watson’s sister.
“They notified us that they were stolen within an hour of the medical personnel and RCMP leaving the scene.”
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The roommates told Burton-Weatherhead that someone had stolen the puppies through the side gate to the yard. However, she says the story sounds “off.”
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“I found the gate they were obviously taken from and there was three feet of grass, there was no way anyone could have gotten in and out without some kind of pathway being made,” Burton-Weatherhead said.
“It just didn’t make sense to me or my family.”
In addition to filing a police report, Watson’s sister also posted a number of posts on social media platforms that have been shared thousands of times.
“These dogs are worth anywhere between $2,500 and $4,500,” Burton-Weatherhead said.
“So I’m sure the people who took them had the intention of selling them and making a quick buck.”
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Katie Gartner is concerned for the safety and well-being of all the puppies that were allegedly stolen, but she can’t help but focus on the one that has already won her heart that she was expected to take home.
“We chose Gator. As soon as I saw him I was like “that’s my dog”. It’s just hard,” Gartner said.
Anyone with information about the puppies is asked to contact the Kamloops RCMP detachment.
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