An Arncliffe family have been reunited with their stolen dog after CCTV captured the moment she was bundled into a car and taken.
Jamie Gauci was playing with his son Joshua, 8, and staffy Izzy at Riverine Park on August 13 when the incident happened.
Mr Gauci said he only looked away for a minute when Izzy disappeared.
‘’I looked up and noticed she was gone and my first reaction was that she had run away,’’ he said.
‘’I gave chase but there was no sign of her.
‘’Slowly minutes turned into hours and we still couldn’t find her. It was frightening.’’
He went back to the park the next day and realised surveillance cameras captured the spot where they were playing.
He contacted Rockdale councillor Shane O’Brien who then worked with Rockdale Council Community Safety Officer Stephen Williamson who found footage of Izzy being put into a car and driven away.
Over the coming days the family searched the area putting up more than 100 posters and even hiring a professional pet searcher.
Mr Gauci said it was a nightmare waiting to hear any news about his dog's whereabouts.
‘’It’s like losing a child,’’ he said.
‘’I couldn’t sleep and we were crying every night.’’
It was a combination of Mr Gauci and his wife's tenacity and the hard work by Mr Williamson and two St George police detectives Matthew Quin and Allan Constabile that Izzy was eventually found.
A second piece of footage was found by Mr Williamson who then forwarded it on to St George police who were able to identify the car involved.
On August 22, more than a week after going missing Izzy was found at a Kingsgrove home before being returned to the family.
Mr Gauci said there was a lot of swearing happening when he heard the news.
‘’It was euphoric, like winning the lotto,’’ he said.
‘’The nightmare had ended and now it was a dream come true.’’
Since then Izzy has been kept very spoilt.
Mr Gauci said he wanted to thank Mr Williamson and St George police.
‘’They are the heros in this,’’ he said.
‘’They went above and beyond. They are the legends in all this.’’
St George Detective Senior Sergeant Brett Van Akker said police were in the process of interviewing the car occupants and charges were expected to be laid.
