8 French bulldog puppies reportedly stolen from Buffalo home

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — A local animal advocacy group is asking for the safe return of eight three-week-old French bulldog puppies they said were stolen on Monday from a home in Buffalo.

The puppies were allegedly stolen from a home on Lasalle Avenue, causing a total of $36,000 worth of stolen property, according to a Buffalo police report.

The owner of the puppies, Brook Thurber, said the incident occurred around 2:45 p.m. She said her 12-year-old son was upstairs when he called her and said the house was shaking. Thurber then called 911, the report said.

“I stayed on FaceTime with him, he came down the stairs and the puppies were down here in the living room, and that’s when we realized that the whole cage was flipped over and the puppies were gone,” Thurber told WIVB News 4 in an interview Tuesday.

Upon arrival, officers found a chair “pushed up to the house side window,” which was opened, the report said.

Eileen Marutiak, the executive director of Against All Oddz Animal Alliance, said the alliance is offering a $5,000 cash reward for the puppies’ return to their mother Nova, with “no questions asked.”

“At this point, because the puppies are so young and they will have a really hard time surviving without their mother, time is of the essence,” she said. “We need to make sure that as many people hear about this story, see this story, as possible, share this story, so that somebody can come forward with some information to get these puppies back home alive to their mother.”

Thurber said Ring camera footage showed a white van leaving around the time of the incident.

Buffalo police are currently investigating the incident.

Katie Skoog joined the News 4 team in April 2024. She is a graduate from the University at Buffalo. You can view more of her work here .