Why Lady Gaga’s DogNapping Case Shines a Light on Crimes Against Pets

 

 

 

Posted By LookAbility Club Staffer

Photo Credit:

Photo by Cameron Smith

When we look at Lady Gaga, we see an amazingly talented, fashionable singer, songwriter, pop music superstar as well as an award winning actress who is also a Pet Lover like many of us who love our pets. In February of 2021, while Lady Gaga’s  three French bulldogs were being walked in Hollywood by her Dogwalker, a Dognapper and his accomplices shot her dogwalker in the chest and stole two of her three French bulldogs. The third dog ran away in the midst of the chaos of the crime but was later found by police. Lady Gaga quickly offered a 500,000 Reward for the safe return of her two bull dogs that were still missing .

Luckily Lady Gaga’s two missing dogs were returned two days later by a woman. But many of us may remember the saying- “oh what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.” It’s a saying that’s applicable here because the woman’s accounts of what really happened appeared to be questionable. She was not allowed to receive the reward. She was ultimately charged for receiving stolen property. In fact, the woman and the four other accomplices were charged with being an accessory to attempted murder. As for the Dognapper himself, he was sentenced to 21 years in prison for attempted murder.

Unfortunately, the reality is that not all of us can offer a $500,000 reward when our dogs or cats either go missing or are faced with brazen kidnapping in broad daylight. There are many other cases where loving pet owners will offer rewards or as much as they can afford even if it’s only $500 or less at the chance of having their loving pets who are like family members returned home to them. Sadly there are people in the world that do not even view pets as family members when in fact those pets who are lucky enough to have loving homes are part of the family.

The sad reality is that the plight of pets is  real not only because of the swarm of criminals and thieves willing to steal other people’s pets at the blink of an eye with no remorse but many of us often turn and look the other way or look at our smartphones instead of noticing a dog or cat that may be in danger and in need of help. There are so many innocent pets  that face dangers, hardships, abandonment, abuse, neglect and the extreme challenges of life as a stray dog on the streets if or when they somehow end up on the streets. One unfortunate example is the cold case of a German Shepherd mix dog named Princess.

See- composite Photographic Rendition of                                                                                                                                                                                                dog, Princess’ Cold case

When we hear someone speak about a cold case we don’t often think of the case involving pets we love but who says we cannot shine a light on them for all the love they have given us. One such case is this 1988 cold case of a German Shepherd mix with beautiful golden brown eyes described to shine like sunshine. Her owners and family prefer to remain anonymous but want their story to be told. Their beautiful dog  was wearing her Dog tags, with the name Princess when she went missing from the privacy of her own backyard back in 1988  in the Union County, New Jersey area. Some of the towns where sightings were reported were Cranford, New Jersey, Roselle, New Jersey, Linden New Jersey, Union New Jersey and possibly all surrounding towns in this area.

It’s reported that the initial culprits and bullies would open the backyard gate on purpose to get the dog to run out it’s own backyard and had made prior attempts at opening the gate but the family and owner of the dog would keep closing the gate back. During the Summer of 1988, it is believed that these culprits and bullies opened the side gate to the backyard alongside a sidewalk on purpose causing this German Shepherd mix to follow another dog out of the backyard. The other dog- a Siberian Husky with blue eyes named Shane was the other dog who lived with Princess like a pair of doggie friends. After the gate was opened, both dogs went running off together and by the time the owners went to call the dogs into the house for dinner, they discovered the dogs missing from the backyard.

The family and owners immediately went searching for them but when the dogs did not return home and could not be found anywhere in the surrounding blocks by nightfall or by the next day and the next, the family began checking the local dog pounds and other surrounding towns.

The family reports that by the weekend, they received a phone call from another family in the Cranford, New Jersey area saying that they had found the missing dogs and that they were able to contact them using the telephone number engraved on the dog tag. When the family of the missing dogs went to pick up the dogs, the family from Cranford, New Jersey only handed over one dog, the Siberian Husky named Shane with blue eyes.  Apparently, when the family questioned the other family as to the whereabouts of the second dog their German Shepherd mix wearing the dog tag engraved with the name Princess with eyes like sunshine , the  Cranford, New Jersey family said they only saw the one dog -the Siberian Husky that they returned.  After leaving to return home only with the one dog, the family immediately began to generate dozens and dozens of photocopies of flyers offering a $500 Reward on the flyer which featured a photo of their beloved German Shepherd mix with the name Princess. They canvassed the neighborhood and neighboring towns to no avail.

The family explains their precious dog Princess was truly special as it was not only a family member to everyone in the family but she was also a very, special loyal friend to their daughter who had experienced bullying at school and  bullying in the neighborhood  when her siblings were bullied as well. So the beloved dog  who had gone missing was a tremendous form of comfort and loyal friend and family member and an empty hole was left in their daughter’s heart permanently for her beloved dog.

Unfortunately, unlike Lady Gaga who was lucky enough to get her two dogs back in two days, this is now a 28 year old cold case in which the family may never get any answers.  After all these years neither the daughter or any other sibling or family member ever discovered who stole their beloved dog wearing the dog tag Princess or why if anyone did rescue her then why did they simply decide to keep her and never bothered to call the telephone number on the dog tag to let the family know what happened to their beloved family member which truly would have been the kind thing to do whenever we have an opportunity to spread kindness in the world.

Well we never know who may read this in the Union County New Jersey, Cranford New Jersey area and all the towns in the surrounding area and who may remember someone either stealing or keeping a  German Shepherd dog mix with eyes like sunshine with the name, Princess engraved on her dog tag along with the phone number of her original owners. Her original family who were the rightful owners never got to bury their beloved pet all these years nor did they ever get a chance to get their beloved pet’s ashes from a cremation service. If someone reading this does remember anything at all regarding this cold case then they can always do a kind deed and leave a message inside our chat and we can get the message to the family after all these years. Of course it will never bring their beloved pet and family member back but your act of kindness can always make a positive difference.

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