Would you pay $15,000 to get your dog back?

Jean Cote

Administrator
Staff member
Bert Clark was reunited with his chocolate Labrador, Huckleberry, late Sunday night. Officers at 53 division say that Mr. Clark received a phone call about his dog and arranged to meet the callers at the police station. A $15,000 reward was paid as promised. "Huckleberry is home. He's healthy. He seems happy," a friend of Mr. Clark's said on Monday. Det. Rob Ermacora said the case is still under investigation. He did not know whether the individuals who returned Huckleberry were the alleged dognappers. "They may be third or fourth party who know who took the dog."


A Toronto dog owner is offering a $15,000 reward for the safe return of his chocolate Labrador, Huckleberry, who he believes was kidnapped Saturday morning. Bert Clark, 37, says his three-year-old dog was in the care of a dog walker when the animal was taken from outside a bakery, south of Yonge and Roxborough streets at about 9 a.m. The dog walker had tied Huckleberry securely to a pipe and came out of the bakery five minutes later to find him gone.
“Huckleberry is my best friend, soulmate, my child. He’s a member of my family,†Mr. Clark said. “I absolutely just pray that these people or someone who knows where he is, will do the right thing.â€
Mr. Clark has contacted police and the Humane Society; he said animals can be anonymously dropped at the Humane Society. Two dozen of Mr. Clark's friends and family members have helped post 600 posters around the city. The last people to be seen with the dog were two youths who were petting Huckleberry, Mr. Clark said.
Huckleberry weighs 85 pounds, has a sliver of white on his chest and yellow-green eyes. He was wearing an inch-wide green collar.
“He’s a very kind, gentle trusting dog.â€
 

Jean Cote

Administrator
Staff member
I don't have a spare $15,000 laying around but I would try to pay off the person who returns the dog safely as much as I could.
 

CollieMan

Experienced Member
In one way, I think I would (subject to me having that amount to spare of course). However, in another way, I can't help thinking that he has now given hope for all potential and would-be dog-nappers in his area. Not to mention that he has made his own dog an even bigger target now for repeat dog-nappings.

He really should have kept it out of the press.
 

Jean Cote

Administrator
Staff member
I dunno. Seems like the cops are going to investigate whoever returns the money. They had to meet at the police station so who knows.

Toronto is only 1 hour away from my house.
 

bigboytex

New Member
I dont know i would...like to get them back..but thats alot of cash and im a poor cowboy...guess id just hunt them down and take them back my self
 

CollieMan

Experienced Member
bigboytex;5126 said:
but thats alot of cash and im a poor cowboy...
That can't be right. I've seen John Wayne movies. I know what goes on. You all have huge ranches that you could sell! :)
 

bigboytex

New Member
CollieMan;5128 said:
That can't be right. I've seen John Wayne movies. I know what goes on. You all have huge ranches that you could sell! :)

Ha i wish...ive got 51 acres and no livestock....Spend to much on my mutts already...but u got to love them
 
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emmasmamma

Guest
If I had that much spare cash it would want to, but that's a lot of money and my husband probably wouldn't let me. It's a tough question. My emotional side would but my practical side would argue. I'd probably set up a sting, nail the jerks that took her and get her back while keeping the money.
As for the cloning... It definately would be tempting. I'd love to have my Buttons back but cloning is only the physical make up. Alot of the personality is shaped by the experiences and environment. Aside from the fact I'm not so sure cloning is such a great idea.
 

l_l_a

New Member
Yes. I would try to get a loan or loans to raise the money, and if I had to spend the rest of my life paying off that loan so be it.
 

hockey390

New Member
I don't have that kind of money... So the whole borrow/loan or whatever other method would be something I would be willing to do, but that goes a little past the idea here. Obviously if you are rich and have tons of cash, who wouldn't? But for almost anyone else, 15,000 is a large chunk of cash. I could never afford it, but I would be willing to part with any possessions I didn't absolutely need to try and raise the money. Sell the tv, trade in the car, and internet would surely be gone... If I ever disappear, just assume that I sold everything to get my dog back ;-)
 

Jean Cote

Administrator
Staff member
Two arrested in Dog Napping

Quote from TheStar:

THE CANADIAN PRESS

CTV News reports that Toronto police have arrested two people in the case of a dog who was apparently stolen, then later returned for a whopping $15,000 reward.

A dog walker had left Huckleberry, a chocolate lab, tied up outside a bakery in the city and returned minutes later to find the canine gone.

Dog owner Bert Clark, a 36-year-old Toronto banker, distributed some 400 posters offering a $15,000 reward for his beloved pet, which he considers a family member. He also purchased newspaper advertisements.

Richard Cassibo called police to report that he found Huckleberry and received a cheque for $10,000 from Clark, who also agreed to make a donation of $5,000, at Cassibo's request, to an animal hospital.

CTV News says two people are in police custody, and one is believed to be Cassibo.

Police plan to hold a news conference tomorrow to discuss the investigation.
I had a feeling they were the ones who returned the dog, and knew the cops would be watching them closely.
 

l_l_a

New Member
what scares me far more than dog nappers who do it for ransom money, is those who do it to sell the dogs off to licensed but unscrupulous brokers who then sell the dogs to research labs. These types of dog nappers are called "bunchers". I saw a documentary where a guy (don't remember if he was from PETA or from the ASPCA or what organization) went undercover working at such a licensed broker's facility with a hidden camera for several months and secretly documented the horrors done to the dogs, many of whom were cherished pets who were stolen right out of their yards. When the documentary aired it made many people, including me, extremely upset as it was very graphic and violent. At least this undercover footage led to that broker being shut down by the government for numerous animal welfare violations. But it is extremely haunting, and a big reason why I don't let my dog in the yard unsupervised and especially not if no one is home, and would urge others to do the same.
 

luna may

New Member
Here where I live the dog-napping problem doesn't exist... Thank GOD. Kesem's in our yard all the time, and it's so wonderfull not being worried about it.

About the cloning: Just like Szecsuani said, the to-be will take shape of your beloved cloned dog, but It won't have it's personality. It'll also never, ever be treated as an individual, but as a 'fake', a double. Not to mention all the people around the street looking at him squinting at him as if he'd done something wrong by merely existing. Rexy is gone- Face it. Cry. Mourn him. Always remember him. Don't try to bring him back to life, only to ruin that life both ethically for you and painfully for the miserable twin you created. Though it's really, really hard, you have to let go. There are plenty of homeless dogs out there, both in and out of pounds, not lucky enough for a home. And they're suffering, mabe dying, at the moment we speak. Why create a new, painful life, when there are so many real, live, gratefull ones to pick from, to save, and whom to give a better life? Lets look after the dogs we already have in the world, and then ask for more. Never the contrary. They will owe you everything the have, and express it with their love, and admiration, and longing to be with you. It's wonderful. There's a saying bearing the words 'Whoever saves a life, it's as if he has saved an entire world with all the things in it'. It really is true.

And on the same note, I'd like to say one more thing. I mentioned caring for what already exists, before getting more and leaving the existing even more helpless than before. It applies about almost everything-humans too. Think about the little kids in Niger, starving for a piece of bread. Or for a cure to AIDS (also known as HIV).
Can you magine how many shattered lives you could mend and re-build with $150,000? Bill Gates is the richest man on earth (a title we'd all like, I'm sure, but oh well... :dogblush:),and still, he donates billions to charity. Yearly. Which, I think, is truly amazing and wonderfull.
Think about it.
 

luna may

New Member
Okay, that was a little heavy. And unlike me.
And long ;)

Still, it's what I think, and I thought you should know, even though it's not Jolly-Golly, crazy, normal me, that that's what I think :)

Now I've gotta go rest my fingers for a little while. A few hours, say. See you :doghappy:
 
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