Thieves Steal Dog From 6 Year Old Burn Victim

Thieves were caught on a CCTV camera stealing an expensive pug, which just happened to belong to a 6-year-old boy who has spent years recovering from horrific burns.

The dog, a seven-month-old pug puppy, was bought for six-year-old Ellis Barrett by his mother, Lucy Swift, in an effort to cheer up the boy after he was released from the hospital. Over the course of the last four years, Ellis has undergone surgery for septicaemia, which he contracted after an accident in which he suffered horrible burns from scalding water. The boy has been left heartbroken that the dog, named “peaches,” was stolen, MailOnline reports.

Swift, who worked extra shifts to purchase the expensive dog, said Ellis is “devastated she’s gone and all we want is to find her.” Footage from a neighbor’s CCTV camera shows the dog theft, which took place on Sunday afternoon at the family’s West Yorkshire home. After the dog was let out in the front garden, two hooded men entered the yard and chased the pug, before catching the dog and making their getaway. Dog theft is on the rise in England, according to The Telegraph, which reports that organized gangs are thought to be behind the brazen acts of theft, which have risen in England by almost 20 percent in the last year.

Swift has started a Facebook page in order to raise awareness of the theft, and in hopes that someone will recognize her son’s dog. She says that the pug wasn’t microchipped because the animal was too young, so the family has no way to track the dog.

Peaches isn’t the only dog who is in the news as a victim of theft. Recently, The Inquisitr reported on the story of Baxter, a dog belonging to soldier Robby Gabbert. While Gabbert was deployed in Afghanistan, his ex-girlfriend sold the dog. After posting a Craigslist ad that subsequently went viral, the Gabbert family was able to locate Baxter, and eventually get him back from his new owners, who were at first hesitant to part with the dog their children had grown attached to.

Swift says that her son’s dog is a “diva” who “sits in the basket of the pink pram outside and is really lazy.” The pug has a medical condition, and was the only one of a litter of three that survived. Her son is very attached to the dog, according to Swift, who says “Ellis and Peaches are like best friends. He has her in the bath with him and everything.” West Yorkshire police are currently investigating the theft of the dog.

[Images via Gawker and MailOnline]