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Pet Store Owner Has Harsh Words For Flip-Flopping Puppy Thief

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – A puppy stolen from a Hollywood pet store is back, but the shop owner has some harsh words for the flip-flopping thief.

She's just 8 weeks old, but one little Maltese Poodle has seen a lot of adventure in her short life.

She was snatched from her pen at Puppy Palace in Hollywood on Tuesday.

A woman, with a child in tow, was caught on camera checking to make sure the coast was clear before taking the dog. It only took a second.

"She just came like this, came, grab it like that and just leave with her kid," explained employee Jonathan Hernandez.

But the canine kidnapping didn't last long.

Early Friday morning, surveillance video captured someone dropping a box off behind the store.

Two and a half hours later the puppy was found by an employee.

Though the pup is back where she belongs, she is a little worse for the wear.

"You can feel her, she's just bones," said Puppy Palace owner Judy Norford. "But thank God she brought her back now. Another day or two… she would have been dead."

Norford doesn't know if it was a guilty conscience or a dog with diarrhea that made the culprit return the pup. The crook didn't feed her the proper food.

"They had milk in a cup in there. You don't give puppies milk," said Norford. "What kind of moron would do that?"

And what really gets her angry is seeing the surveillance video – a little girl clutching the hand of the woman as she steals the pup.

"I'm a mom of six. I'm sorry, but what kind of example is that as a mom?  That has to be the most awful thing," she said.

Norford said she is still willing to pay a $1,000 reward for anyone who has information that leads to the arrest of the person who took the puppy.

Anyone with information in the case is urged to call Broward County Crime Stoppers at (954) 493-TIPS.

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