MACOMB COUNTY

Puppy stolen during robbery, Macomb Twp. couple say

Mark Hicks
The Detroit News

Ashlynn Bethell desperately wants her dog Zoey back.

The 9-week-old American pit bull/terrier mix is a registered emotional support animal and helps her 20-year-old owner through tough times. But on Monday, the pup was stolen from their Macomb Township home during an armed robbery, she said.

“It’s pretty hard,” Bethell said Thursday. “It’s hard to sleep at night. She’s not there to calm me down when I’m having an anxiety attack.”

Bethell and her fiance are working to spread the word about Zoey in hopes that someone finds the brown-and-white canine.

“I’m thinking that whoever did take her is trying to sell her and get some money,” Bethell said. “I’m hoping whoever they try to sell her to will come forward and give her back to us.”

Zoey was ready to head out with Bethell’s partner, Gary Adams, around 2:30 p.m. Monday when Adams encountered two armed men outside their mobile home community near Hall and Garfield roads, Bethell said.

The pair forced their way in, assaulted Adams then took several hundred dollars as well as three flat screen TVs, a PlayStation and a cell phone, she said.

At one point, while the suspects were elsewhere in the home, Adams tried to escape from a dog kennel he’d been forced in to alongside Zoey, Bethell said. But the intruders “made him get out of the cage, beat him up some more, took the dog and left,” she said.

The Macomb County Sheriff’s Office could not provide information Thursday night on a police report or an investigation into the incident.

Zoey wore a purple collar with tags and was scheduled to get a microchip soon, Bethell said.

As the days pass, her owners are wracked with worry and seek her safe recovery.

“She’s really important,” Bethell said.