Authorities announced that two 16-year-old girls have been apprehended for stealing a dachshund named Milkshake from a Bronx apartment last month. However, the emotional support service dog is still missing.
The teenagers, whose identities have not been disclosed due to their age, were arrested on Monday and charged with third-degree grand larceny and second-degree harassment in connection to the brazen dognapping that occurred on May 4, as per police reports.
Owner Luz Montanez, 34, shared with The Post that her beloved 10-year-old female dachshund, Milkshake, was taken by the heartless thieves while she was preoccupied with her young son’s birthday celebration.
Surveillance footage released by the NYPD captured the small dog following the two suspects through the building’s hallway and staircase, but Milkshake has not been returned and her whereabouts remain unknown.
Montanez, who was unavailable for immediate contact, mentioned that the suspects seemed familiar from the surveillance video, although she did not personally know them.
She had been hosting a Bluey-themed birthday party for her son in the apartment and had allowed the kids to play in the hallway, where Milkshake later joined them. However, by 7:50 p.m., as Montanez served cake to the guests, she discovered that the dog was missing.
Milkshake was a mere 3 weeks old when Montanez received her as a birthday gift from her father, and she had even bottle-fed the puppy and kept her baby teeth in a jar.
“Milkshake is truly like my first child. I call her my favorite,” expressed the distraught owner. “I mean, both of my kids are my favorite… I tell her, ‘You’re my favorite dog. And I tell my [son], ‘You’re my favorite human.’ These are both my kids!”
“This is my baby. This is my soulmate,” Montanez added about her cherished pet. “This is my heart, my heartbeat. She’s been through everything with me.”
Montanez expressed her hope last week that someone with good intentions would return Milkshake to her.
“People who are dog lovers do not commit acts like what they’ve done,” Montanez remarked about the thieves. “It’s cruel, and nobody does that. I know your intentions for the dog are not pure.”
“I need someone to hear me because she needs to come home,” Montanez reiterated in a plea. “She needs to come home already.”
