Happy ending for puppy snatched from Squirrel Hill owners

A puppy snatched from her owners Tuesday night in Squirrel Hill has been reunited with her family, police said.

Daphne, a 4-month-old mixed breed, was returned to her family by Pittsburgh police Zone 4 Cmdr. Daniel Herrmann. Police said the pup was found by Public Works employees in the Blue Slide Park section of Frick Park.

Daphne is home!

City of Pittsburgh Department of Public Works employees found the stolen puppy in Blue Slide Park.

Zone 4 Commander Daniel Herrmann reunited her with her ecstatic owners!

Thank you to the public and the media for spreading the word far and wide! pic.twitter.com/6ZBsU2A9i2

— Pittsburgh Police (@PghPolice) January 6, 2021

Debbie Gespass and her husband, Andrew, were walking the puppy shortly before 6 p.m. on Beechwood Boulevard near the Frick Environmental Center in Frick Park.

“When I walk her a lot of people want to pet her because she’s a puppy, so it didn’t seem out of the ordinary that this young man … started to pet her,” she said.

The man picked up the puppy. Then, Gespass said, he unclipped the leash.

Gespass asked what the man was doing, at which point he looked up and apologized, quelling any concern she had.

“All of a sudden in a split second, he took off with the dog,” she said. “I had no idea he was going to steal the dog – why would I think that?”

The man – whom Gespass described as in his 20s with a very thin build – took off across Beechwood toward Shaw Avenue, a side street that loops around the neighborhood and leads to Darlington Road.

“I ran into the street and started screaming that somebody just stole my dog,” she said. “I was just in shock.”

Gespass said the family rescued the mutt a little over two months ago.

“To us she’s worth everything, but it’s not like he could sell her — she’s not any kind of a breed,” she said.

After Daphne was reunited with her family, Andrew Gespass posted a photo on Facebook.

“Daphne is back home!!!!,” he wrote. “Many thanks to fine efforts of Pittsburgh police.”