Getting your car stolen is a nasty experience. Getting your expensive professional equipment stolen is also horrible. But when your dog gets stolen together with all of that, the situations becomes nightmarish. That’s exactly what happened to Jessica Mitchell from Portland, Oregon. Last Saturday her Subaru go stolen from a Walmart parking lot in Wood Village, together with the $3,000 worth of photo equipment and her 8-year-old Chinese Shar-Pei, Pebbles. Fortunately, the stolen dog returned on the very next day.
Mitchel said that her beloved dog was her life.
“I know that she’s just totally lost right now without me,” Mitchell said in front of KOIN 6 News on Saturday, crying at every word. “I just pray she doesn’t get left in a hot car for hours on end, to cook somewhere.”
Mitchel was justifiably worried that she will never see Pebbles again in her life. Fortunately, that worry lasted just a day. On Sunday Mitchell received a text that her dog was found in the trailer park that was right next to the Walmart parking lot. Whether the thieves were hiding in plain sight the whole time and just left the dog before leaving, or they displayed some consciousness and returned the dog there to be found isn’t clear.
“They told me they didn’t know anything about the situation, but their son had found this dog,” Mitchell said.
Pebbles certainly wasn’t cared for, as one would expect. She was hungry, dirty and tired. Yet, the stolen dog returned and that’s what matters.
“The minute she saw me she was all over me with kisses,” Mitchell said.
Now that the bigger tragedy is averted, Mitchell is focusing on finding her car and equipment. She uses the latter for school, so it’s not just expensive but important to her as well. Mitchell isn’t sure how she’ll be able to replace the missing items, but there was no way to replace Pebbles so having at least her back is great.
“Whoever did this has really hurt me hard,” she said, “emotionally as well financially.”
Despite all the stress, what matters is that Pebbles is now home, “just laying down in the grass totally content,” Mitchell said.
