Update (8/5/2013): Cookie has returned to the Lafkas' home in good condition, according to police. Nassau County police were able to help bring the dog back to its rightful owner after an anonymous call was received late last week.
Between 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Monday, a home in Merrick was burglarized. Not only did the Lafkas family lose a flat-screen TV, jewelry, X-Box gaming system, iPad, cell phone and designer handbags, but it also lost a dog – a two-year-old Bichon Shih Tzu named “Cookie.”
The burglar(s) broke into a basement window and left the front door of the home open, so it’s unclear if Cookie was stolen or ran away, but there is now a reward for the dog’s return.
Cookie’s owners are devastated by the lost. They don’t care for the materials stolen, only for the safe return of their dog. The Lafkas offered comment stating, “Go make money on the bags, make money on the jewelry – whatever you took from us, but bring the puppy back home to my children,” according to reporting from CBS New York.
Anyone with information on Cookie’s whereabouts is asked to call the Nassau County SPCA at (516) THE-SPCA. It is also offering a $1,000 reward for information that leads to the safe return of Cookie and all calls are kept confidential.
Anyone with information on Cookie or the burglary may also call the Seventh Squad detectives at (516) 573-6753 or Nassau Crime Stoppers at (800) 244-TIPS.
[Source: Nassau County SPCA; CBS New York; ABC News]