Chug stolen from Manatee store found in statewide ‘puppy chop shop’ investigation
A Chug puppy that was stolen from a Manatee County Petland last March has been recovered, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office said Friday in a report.
The theft was part of a larger dog trafficking and “puppy chop shop” case spanning multiple Florida counties, the release said. The Orange County Sheriff’s Office was investigating the robbery of a French bulldog at gunpoint, which was also recovered, the police report said.
Orange County Sheriff John Mina told reporters at a press conference Friday that the investigation into the French bulldog, named Bugsy, theft led them to dog trafficking ring discovery, ClickOrlando.com reported.
“Their investigation uncovered burglaries of pet stores and an underground puppy chop shop where the criminals would remove the microchip used for identification — and they’d actually cut it out of the animals — and, of course, these pets were kept in extremely deplorable conditions,” Mina told the news outlet.
According to the Manatee County Sheriff report, the March incident at Petland, 3530 53rd Ave. W., Bradenton, saw six puppies stolen with a total value of $35,000.
Ronnie Baker was deemed a suspect in both the theft of Bugsy, the Petland burglary and another dog theft in Largo, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said, ClickOrlando.com reported.
While a search warrant at Baker’s residence did not locate any missing dogs, a residence search of another man, Bobby Rivera, found nine dogs with one dead on the property, the outlet reported.
Details of Baker’s arrest, which came in May on charges of a burglary of a structure, were not known until Friday.
Both Baker and Rivera are being charged with the Manatee County Petland and Largo burglaries, too, ClickOrlando.com reported.
The Manatee County burglary investigation saw two suspects being spotted on surveillance footage, the police report said.
Two female suspects were described as “petite,” with one suspect wearing a gray hoodie, sweatpants and orange gloves and the other suspect wearing a dark-colored hoodie, sweatpants and dark-colored gloves, according to the report.
The Chug — a pug and Chihuahua mix — was the only dog recovered of the six that were stolen from Petland in Manatee County, the sheriff’s office said.
Anyone with information can contact MCSO at 941-747-3011 or Crime Stoppers at 866-634-TIPS.
This story was originally published November 5, 2021 at 3:24 PM.
