Babette Lee with her stolen dogs
(Picture: Babette Lee)A “devastated” dog owner said her two pets were stolen after a carjacker ambushed her at a north London petrol station.
Babette Lee, from south London, has made an emotional appeal for help describing her ordeal as like “having my family stolen”.
Ms Lee said she had taken her young Pomeranian and Chihuahua for a walk in a park in Barnet on Sunday afternoon.
She stopped with her dogs at Tesco Express in Oakwood where she said she was ambushed.
She said: “The man jumped in on the passenger side and climbed over. I was still putting the petrol in when he was driving off, it was pulling me along.”
She described the man as being white, skinny, “gaunt looking” and bearded.
The car also contained equipment and supplies used in her job as a beautician.
Ms Lee said she is desperate to have her dogs back, though she said she “doesn’t care” about her car.
She has been trying to raise money through a GoFundMe page to put up as a reward for their safe return.
“They’re my life”, she said. “I get them up, feed them, walk them, take them to work with me, take them to bed with me. I am losing my mind. I can’t think about anything else. I can’t sleep. They’re my babies.”
She added: “I can’t believe someone would do something like that. They just see them as something to sell.”
Ms Lee said the thief may have spotted her dogs and stolen the car so he could sell them.
The prices of pooches soaring during the Covid pandemic.
She added: “This has totally traumatised me, I would rather go out and search for my dogs night and day than do anything els right now, I really can’t think about anything else it’s torture…”
The government has recently announced a new law to tackle dog thefts and give out longer sentences for offenders.
Campaigners have welcomed the move. Among them, Dr Daniel Allen, founder of the Pet Theft Reform campaign, said: “Making a five-year maximum sentence accessible for those who steal dogs is a positive step, as is recognising the emotional distress experienced by people and pets.”
The Metropolitan police are investigating the incident but no arrests have been made.
