Vancouver pet-owner shaken after attempted French bulldog theft

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – A Vancouver dog owner has been left shaking, after his French bulldog Freddie was moments away from being snatched.

Danny Ramadan was at George Wainborn Park, in Yaletown early Friday, when a tall, mid-40s man approached him and asked if he could pet his dog.

Ramadan agreed, but says things took a strange turn shortly after.

“He started asking all of those weird questions, he started with the regular: ‘What is the breed and how old is he?’ But then he moved on to asking questions, ‘What is his weight? And is he purebred? And how much money did you pay for him?'”

Noticing that there were two other men on bikes “silently standing behind him”, Ramadan decided to try to get Freddie closer to him.

“I was in the middle of a triangle. I freaked out because that felt quite claustrophobic. And at the end of the day, we have a pandemic as well,” Ramadan says.

As Ramadan was pulling Freddie closer, the man started to try to unclip the leash from Freddie’s harness.

“I grabbed my dog and I stepped a couple steps back, and the three of them just like, ran for it.”

Ramadan says the man went in one direction, whilst the other two men on bikes headed towards the seawall.

“I was just weirded out by the whole situation and anxiety started to creep in, because I wasn’t sure what was happening. I was [thinking] ‘There’s something very wrong happening right here. I’m not sure I understand it, but at the same time, I don’t feel safe at all.'”

Ramadan believes that the recent incident of American singer Lady Gaga’s French bulldogs being stolen, may have contributed to people now knowing how expensive the dogs are.

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Ramadan says he did report the incident to Vancouver Police’s non-emergency line. VPD spokesperson Sgt. Steve Addison says that whilst the VPD do receive reports of this nature from time to time, they “don’t have any anecdotal or statistical information to suggest pet-thefts are on the rise in Vancouver.”

Ramadan says he just keeps replaying the incident over and over in his head.

“I keep repeating in my head, what might have might have happened and honestly, I’m shaking all day today.

“When somebody is trying to take away a helpless creature, that you have decided to care for, it is quite the traumatic experience to be honest.”

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