11 puppies, momma dog stolen from Clover home

Just days after their blue pit bull, Mercedes, birthed a litter of puppies, Jennifer Dale had to tell her 2-year-old son that his doggy was gone.

Dale, 23, now wants to know who took their dog and her 11 puppies from their Clover home, and to get them back.

“I really want my dogs back,” she said. “There’s no way I can replace them.”

Dale has had Mercedes for three years. The dog gave birth to 11 puppies on Thursday, and they had been staying in a pen outside Dale’s Bowling Green Drive home.

“I had just went out there to feed them the night before (Saturday) and they were still there,” she said. “I went out there the next morning to check on them to make sure they were OK and they were gone.”

The door to the pen was open and unlatched, Dale said. She called the York County Sheriff’s Office and a deputy came out to investigate.

“He tried to get fingerprints off the dog cage and couldn’t get fingerprints because it had rained,” she said.

Dale thinks she knows who took the dogs but so far no charges have been filed. A boot print was found in the mud near the pen. Dale said she believes whoever took the dogs also took a bag of dog food from inside the pantry of the home.

“It’s my son’s dog,” she said. “He said something about his doggy, and I had to tell him his doggy is gone.”

Dale wants her animals back but said she doesn’t think that’ll happen. She looks through the pictures she took of the dogs on her phone just days ago and said it upsets her.

“I wish I could have her back,” she said. “They were just born Sept. 24. They were fresh puppies.”

Ten of the puppies are described as dark gray, and one is described as “brindle.”

Anyone with information on the theft of the dogs or their whereabouts is asked to call the York County Sheriff’s Office at 803-628-3059, or Dale at 404-980-9668.

This story was originally published September 29, 2015 at 4:38 PM with the headline "11 puppies, momma dog stolen from Clover home."