Stolen Dog Alerts Pet Store Employees That He’s Not With His Real Family

Even though dogs can’t directly tell us things, they have their ways of getting their point across. A stolen Australian Shepherd named Vango is an excellent example of a dog who knows how to get a human’s attention.

A couple stole Vango and brought him to a pet store to get supplies. While at the store, Vango knew it was the perfect opportunity to cause a scene. He started acting out to get the employees’ attention, and the thieves’ reactions to the situation only raised more suspicions. Vango saved himself from a dognapping!

Shopping with a Stolen Dog

Yves Jodoin, a dog trainer and staff member at Au Royaume des Animaux, noticed Vargo enter the shop with two people who usually bought cat food. Vargo barked at Jodoin, so he handed the pup a treat. Yet, even after receiving a few snacks, Vargo continued to bark at him as if he had something to say.

So, Jodoin asked the couple some questions about the dog, but they didn’t seem to know any details about their furry friend. They didn’t know his age, if he was fixed, or what food he usually ate. When another employee noticed the customers were avoiding the questions, they searched social media for lost dog posts.

Sure enough, Vango’s human, Josée Francoeur, had made a post about him going missing only a few hours earlier. Jodoin realized that he trained Vango in the past, so he was sure this pup was him. Jodoin asked the couple where they got Vango from, and they got defensive and refused to answer.

“At that point, I said, ‘Vango, come!’ And the dog was reacting, he was jumping,” Jodoin said. “All along he was barking and poking, trying to say, ‘Hello, I’m not the dog they say I am.’”

Vango’s Efforts Were Successful!

At that point, the couple admitted Vango wasn’t their dog. They said they found Vango in the woods and wanted to keep him as a support animal because they couldn’t afford to buy and train a new dog. However, Francoeur thinks it’s unlikely that Vango could’ve run away, so she believes he was stolen.

Jodoin convinced the couple to surrender the dog, and the pet store employees reunited the pup with Francoeur. Francoeur burst into happy tears at the news that her dog was found safe. He had disappeared from her yard earlier that morning when she let him out to pee. Francoeur filed a police complaint against the couple.

“I don’t want to cause them problems. We don’t know why they did it. But at the same time, they took my baby,” Francoeur said. “I want to discourage others from doing this.”

Vargo hadn’t been microchipped at the time, so Francoeur immediately scheduled an appointment to get that done. If Vargo hadn’t got the attention of the pet store employees, he might’ve never found his way home!

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