Three puppies stolen during break-in at Mt. Healthy pet store

CINCINNATI (WXIX) - Three puppies were stolen from a Mt. Healthy pet store late Monday.

Animal House Cincinnati posted videos on its Facebook videos showing three people coming onto the property of their Hamilton Avenue store around 11 p.m. Two of three people can be seen in one video jumping the fence and making their way up to a set of stairs.

The suspects then broke into the store, Animal House Cincinnati wrote on Facebook.

They posted another video on Facebook which they say shows the suspects coming inside and taking three puppies.

Animal House Cincinnati says police are investigating, and in fact, they think the suspects might have been in their store earlier in the day.

The owner of Animal House, Michael Raleigh, says he received calls from his staff Monday afternoon saying three young men were acting strange inside the store.

“Asking how many people were working,” explained Raleigh. “So, I told her next time you see them, just tell them they’re no longer welcomed into the store because they were being rough with the puppies.”

Raleigh says the men left and he thought nothing else of it until around 11 p.m. Monday when he says the store’s alarm system went off.

“They went directly to the puppies that they were in here earlier looking at,” said Raleigh. “So, they had to pass up four different pins of puppies to get to this one.”

The suspects stole one pug cocker spaniel mix and two pug Boston terrier mixes, Raleigh says. He said the three pups can cost anywhere between $1,900 to $2,000.

“To see something like that happen is just so disheartening,” the owner says. “You just have to worry about the rest of their lives.”

The team at Animal House said that when they arrived, the door was wide open, and the rest of the puppies were visibly shaken.

Raleigh says he’s lost for words.

“If you have to take the money, take whatever, but I don’t understand the point of coming in and stealing an animal,” he says. “You can’t possibly take care of it properly.”

Raleigh thinks the suspects left in a silver or gold Toyota RAV4.

Call the Mt. Healthy Police Department at 513-728-3183 if you have any information.

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