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Dusty & Tess The Lost, Stolen, and Sold on the Internet Pups Return Home

Police returned Dusty, a sandy-colored, 6-month-old West Highland terrier to his rightful owner in a tearful and tail-wagging reunion. Dusty and his mom Tess were lost, stolen, and then sold on Craigslist. But a persistent police investigation recovered the dogs, turning them over to their owner, Theresa Abrams.

The dog snatching caper started when Dusty, Tess, and a third dog, Salina, escaped February 4 from the backyard of the Abrams’ house in Columbia, a small town located on the Susquehanna River about 20 miles south of Harrisburg. Salina, a pit bull, returned the same day, but there was no sign of Dusty or Tess.

They were next seen when a family friend of the dog’s owner spotted a for sale ad with photos of Dusty and Tess on Craigslist. The Abrams family eventually learned their dogs were being sold on the Internet. The Abrams contacted the dog sellers via e-mail, but there was no answer. They sought help from the local media and requested police assistance to get their dogs back.

Police state a neighbor who found the two stray dogs sold them to separate families. Brandi S. Anderson, a 27-year-old Pennsylvania woman who is a neighbor of Abrams, is in the doghouse for selling the pups for $150 each to two separate families. Anderson lives in the same block as Abrams, but they Did notknow each other.

Before Dusty and Tess escaped, their owner had bathed them. They were not wearing their collars or IDs. Anderson stated she thought the dogs were abandoned because they had no tags or collars.

In the advertisement, Anderson wrote on the Craigslist posting that the dogs belonged to her grandmother who had recently died. She later explained that she did that because sheDidn’t think anyone would want stray dogs. She claimed that charging $150 was to ensure the dogs went to families who wanted them, and not a laboratory or someone exploitative.

“It’s not like we intentionally kept their dogs,” Anderson said.

Columbia police Officer Brent Smith filed a charge of theft of lost property against Anderson. Smith stated he tried for days to persuade Anderson to provide the buyers’ contact information, but she would not.

“I gave her every opportunity,” Officer Smith said. “She should have cooperated fully from the start.”

Smith said it is clear from the e-mail records he obtained from the dog’s buyers and by court order from Craigslist.org, that Brandi