A Camden County family is searching for its two French bulldog puppies that went missing earlier this month after the dogs escaped their fenced-in backyard. Where the puppies went after that is unclear, but the family fears the 5-month-old dogs were stolen.
The puppies went missing around 9 p.m. on Oct. 7 after Maria Kraszewski let them out in the family's yard in Somerdale. They are a male and female, part of a litter of four. The family has a total of six dogs, including the parents of the litter. That night the puppies were outside with the mother dog.
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"I was in the kitchen cooking, and it was only for 15 or 20 minutes, maximum," Kraszewski said Thursday. "I started whistling for the puppies, and I saw that two weren't coming back."
Kraszewski and her husband, Stan, searched the yard, discovering an area along the fence that appeared to have been dug up. They believe the puppies escaped there and possibly wandered into a nearby apartment complex on Warwick Road in the borough. The Kraszewskis searched the apartment complex's property, asking everyone they came across if they had seen their dogs.
Three years ago, the family bought its first French bulldog. Then they got another one a year after that. The mother dog's pregnancy was unexpected, Maria Kraszewski said, adding they had not intended to breed their pets and that the family planned to keep the entire litter.
The Kraszewskis theorize the two escaped dogs were spotted and scooped up because of the value of Frenchies, which are among the most trendy dog breeds.
French bulldog puppies can sell for $1,000 to $10,000, and news reports in recent years have documented rising numbers of French bulldog thefts. In 2022, Lady Gaga's dog walker was shot in Los Angeles while walking the singer's pets, and last year, there was a string of Frenchie thefts reported in Washington, D.C.
"We think that because these were puppies, someone probably saw the breed and saw money signs and took them," Kraszewski said, speculating. "They're probably deciding to keep them to sell them or breed them."
The Kraszewskis said they reported their missing dogs to police in Somerdale and neighboring Magnolia. Somerdale police could not be reached for comment for this article.
The couple also notified animal shelters and veterinarians, posted photos and information about the dogs to Facebook groups, and paid for a service called Pawboost, that amplifies social media posts to help find missing pets. The family also is offering a $500 reward for their return.
In February, Tom Sharp, the CEO of American Kennel Club Reunite, which helps find missing dogs, said the number of dognappings reported by owners to his organization increased by 140% from 2020 to 2023. Sharp added, "In 2023, twice as many French bulldogs were reported stolen to us as the next (most stolen) breed."
An employee at the Voorhees Animal Orphanage, about seven miles from the Kraszewskis' home, said the shelter often gets calls from pet owners regarding missing animals. New Jersey law requires shelters keep lost and abandoned dogs for seven days to allow owners to reclaim them before the animals can be put up for adoption, relocated or euthanized. (Voorhees Animal Orphanage is a no-kill shelter).
More expensive and more popular dog breeds are more likely to be reconnected with their owners during that window, the shelter employee said Thursday, and most shelters will scan animals upon arrivals to check whether they are microchipped.
The Kraszewskis' missing dogs were not microchipped, and Maria Kraszweski declined to provide their names for this article. The handful of calls the family has received in response to their social media posts have been dead ends, as has a review of security camera footage from the apartment complex near their home.
One of the missing the puppies has a black patch with a crescent shape on its left cheek. The other has distinctive and different fur patterns on the left and right sides of its face.
Anyone with information about the missing puppies can call Maria Kraszewski at 856-676-3933 or Stan Kraszewski at 856-308-1691.
