MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) – A dog named Sugar is now back where he belongs after he was stolen right in front of her Miami Beach home.
“God, I feel amazing, I feel amazing,” Natalie Botton, the dog’s owner, said, Tuesday. “First of all, just to know that my dog is safe is everything. It’s such a blessing.”
Botton said someone found her dog, Sugar, and contacted her after seeing her story on 7News, the day before.
“He says he has his own dog,” she said. “He was walking in the park, that he found Sugar, that he was going to sell him, but noticed, saw me on the news, and saw what I was offering. More than the selling price and decided to give him back to us.”
Botton’s dog was snatched from the sidewalk by a stranger Friday, near 80th Street and Hawthorne Avenue.
She said she let the 3-month-old puppy out as she and her kids were about to leave the house.
“There was a black car right there, and a man was going in his car,” Botton said. “At the time, I actually didn’t see him with Sugar, I only saw that in the footage.”
Botton said she thought the driver was concerned for Sugar. That’s when he took off with him.
“I’m like, ‘No, that’s my dog!’ At that moment when he didn’t stop, I realized he wasn’t looking for me, he wasn’t looking for the owner of the dog,” she said.
Her children were watching the puppy while they waited for their ride-share.
Moments before she planned to bring Sugar back to the house, he was gone.
Now, he’s been reunited with his family.
“I feel so grateful, so grateful for all the support and the advice that I got,” Botton said. “I’m really grateful. I’m really grateful to have Sugar back.”
Botton said she made good on her offer of a reward and paid the person who found her dog $3,500.
The driver who stole Sugar has not been found.
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