A dog lover is warning people to be on the alert when out walking their pets after scammers tried to steal his adored Hungarian Vizsla.
Documentary maker Steven O’Riordan and his husband Mark Fitzgerald rescued two year old Molly only last week from a family who no longer wanted her.
While walking Molly on Monday evening and waiting to cross the road at traffic lights in the Dublin 9 area, Steven was distracted by a male who came up to him looking for help.
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“Molly was sitting at the traffic lights by my left side on the lead waiting to cross when a male started shouting ‘Help, Help,” Steven told this paper.
“He was on my right hand side and tried to show me his phone and I tried to look at what he was showing me but I couldn’t see anything. I tried to do what I could to help,” kind-hearted Steven continued.
And little did he realise at the time, while giving this man his attention, another male came from behind and unhooked Molly off her lead to grab her.
“The first man was obviously a distraction tactic. A woman in her car who saw what happened shouted ‘They are trying to rob your dog!’ as Molly bolted across the road into traffic.
“The woman got out of her car and tried to stop traffic and I ran into the middle of the road after Molly. I managed to corner her on the path. Honest to God, my legs were like jelly.”
He said both he and Molly returned home straight away and he became so upset when he actually realised what went on.
“I started crying and asking myself what actually happened. It was crazy. It was a complete shock,” he said, adding that it all happened so quickly.
Steven said someone trying to steal his dog while out walking never would have entered his mind.
"I'm aware that a Hungarian Vizsla is an incredibly wanted dog and obviously much-loved of course by dog owners. I just wouldn't have had that in my mind walking around, especially since she is a rescue dog to us," he added.
“They saw an opportunity to try and steal a valuable dog and I totally fell for the first male pretending he wanted help,” he said, warning other dog walkers to remain vigilant.
“Molly is now home safe and sound with lots of kisses and cuddles. All I can say is to be alert for scammers as I still can’t believe it happened.”
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