Dog-Sitter Steals Man's Puppy in Upper Haight

Homeward bound

​A San Francisco dogsitter snatched a client's pup over the weekend -- and never came back.

On Saturday, the victim had asked his friend to watch his German Shepherd puppy for the day. The friend said he couldn't do it, but he knew someone who could.

Desperate for a dogsitter, the man followed his friend's referral and paid another man to care for his dog at his house  on the first block of Broderick Street for the day.

But when the victim got home, he found both the caretaker and his sweet pup gone.


The distraught man waited it out for a day, but went to the police department on Sunday and filed a complaint.

That same day, police were cruising through the Upper Haight neighborhood when they spotted the "caretaker" drinking a beer on the street -- with the dog in tow.

Police stopped the 29-year-old Western Addition man and arrested him on a traffic warrant. They brought the puppy to the Park police station, where it was reunited with its owner.

Surprisingly, the victim declined to file charges.

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