DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — A missing 3-year-old French bulldog in Delray Beach has its owner worried she is the victim of a growing crime trend.
The dogs are known to be friendly, trendy and expensive.
Signs for the missing dog, named Hank, are posted all over the Lake Ida neighborhood in Delray Beach.
The real fear by the owner is that whoever has the dog has no intention of bringing it back.
French bulldogs are a hot commodity, especially on the black market.
There have been increasing reports from California to South Florida of these dogs being stolen and sold for thousands.
Hank's owner now fears that someone scooped him up when her pup wandered out of the house early Wednesday morning.
"We filed a report. We have an officer in our neighborhood, and he said that this kind of thing happens. It happens where people take a dog and steal the dog and that just makes me worried," said Hank's owner Yvette Norton.
There is a $5,000 reward for the safe return of Hank.
"My concern is this. Somebody stole him and is trying to do the wrong thing, breeding him and selling him for a high amount of money," Norton said. "Just bring him home, do the right thing."
She said social media posts indicate that she's not the only one this has happened to, and she's hoping whoever has the dog will return it.
"It's like my child. We don't have kids. We have dogs, and those are my babies," Norton said. "He's my little boy, and I want him home."
Also, on Wednesday, a French Bulldog was taken and recovered after someone spotted the dog being walked near the beach.
Singer Lady Gaga's French bulldogs were stolen in California last year but were recovered unharmed two months later.
