‘She will not leave my sight’: N.S. dog stolen along with SUV reunited with owners

A Nova Scotia couple is relieved to have their dog back after he was take for a ride in the family’s stolen vehicle.

A Cape Breton couple is relieved to be back with their dog after it was stolen along with the family’s vehicle from a gas station Monday afternoon.

Cape Breton Regional Police says the Ford Escape was taken from the Ultramar parking lot on Grand Lake Road in Sydney, N.S., around 4 p.m.

The dog, a white goldendoodle named Charlie, was still inside at the time of the theft.

“I went into the store just to get a quart of milk, and when I came out my dog and my car was gone and the dog was in the car,” Robert Stubbert says.

Robert, who describes Charlie as his best friend, says he called police immediately.

Officers looked at surveillance video from the gas station but were unable to make out a licence plate number on another vehicle that appeared to be involved.

After arriving home, Robert posted on social media about what happened in the hope somebody may have seen something, but he was already afraid of the worst.

“Because I thought they were leaving the Island,” Robert said. “You know, (that) they jumped in the car, full tank of gas, gone. I would never see her again.”

“We just thought, ‘Oh my God, the dog is gone,’” added Anne Stubbert, Robert’s wife. “I don’t care about the car. We cared about the dog.”

Anne said the couple received messages from across the country and there were people — including strangers — looking for their dog into the wee hours of the morning.

Still, she said it was a sleepless night, adding the unknown about Charlie’s fate was largely what kept them awake.

“(Our worst fear) was that they would hurt her,” Anne said. “Or she’s not very road smart because she’s a home dog and if they dropped her off somewhere on the highway, we didn’t know if she would be run over by a car or animals would have got (sic) her.”

Shortly after 7 a.m. Tuesday, their ordeal came to an end. There was a knock on the door of their Gardiner Mines, N.S., home and a police vehicle in their driveway.

“They said, ‘We have your dog,’ and it was like, ‘My God,’” Anne said. “We never thought that we’d get her back. We thought we’d never see her again.”

A short time later, Charlie — who turns four at the end of July — was brought back to the couple’s home.

The Stubberts say police also told them their vehicle had been recovered.

A half-dozen police officers then dropped by their home shortly before 11 a.m. to check on them and Charlie.

“They all showed up again, they all came back — the six officers involved — and they got pictures with her,” Anne said. “They looked like they loved her just as much as we did. They were so caring. They went above and beyond to get her back and I am so grateful.”

Robert adds one thing will change the next time he goes anywhere with his dog.

“She won’t be out of my sight anymore — never,” he said. “Just glad that she’s home and she will not leave my sight again.”

Woman charged

Meanwhile, a 32-year-old woman is facing charges in connection with the incident.

Cape Breton Regional Police received information around 6:30 a.m. Tuesday that the vehicle had been spotted driving from Sterling Road onto Roost Street.

Officers patrolled the area and found the stolen vehicle parked outside a home on Roost Street. Police say a person, who they identified as being in violation of conditions of a release order, was inside the SUV.

Police arrested the woman, who directed the officers to an address in Glace Bay, where the dog was found safe.

Police say the officers returned the dog to his owners “after treating him to breakfast at Tim Horton’s on the way home.”

Raylene Mahaney is facing the following charges:

• possession of property obtained by crime
• possession of cocaine
• resisting a peace officer
• four breaches of previous court-ordered conditions.

Police say they continue to investigate the theft.

For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page