Stolen service dog located a day later in South Florida

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A service dog that was inside a truck when it was stolen outside a South Florida gas station was located Saturday, a day after going missing.

WPLG in Fort Lauderdale reported that the truck was found by a friend of owner Luisa Escudero in a Fort Lauderdale apartment complex, its door open and the 9-year-old brown and black bull mastiff inside.

Escudero’s truck was stolen outside a gas station in Fort Lauderdale on Friday afternoon when she went inside.

The 110-pound (50-kilogram) dog named Odin works with Escudero at a centre for children with cerebral palsy.

Reached Saturday morning by the South Florida Sun Sentinel before Odin was found, Escudero described Odin as “a very sweet dog.” Escudero said at the time that whoever stole the truck could keep it. She just wanted Odin back.

“I understand that person may have done this out of some sort of need; that he needed to steal a truck, and I forgive him. It’s okay,” Escudero said. “But please return my dog. That’s all I ask.”