Holy Shih Tzu!
An adorable Chelsea pooch dognapped off the street two months ago is finally back home — happy, healthy and sporting a new GPS tracking microchip.
“I can’t express what it feels like. It’s a relief,” said Maria Vasquez, 49, whose prized Shih Tzu, Skylar, was stolen in September and was returned on Monday. “All the heartache is gone.”
Vasquez was out for a walk with Skylar on Sept. 21 when she tied the 7-year-old pup to a pole while she checked out a giveaway at The Container Store on Sixth Avenue. Moments later, he was gone.
A good Samaritan gave Vasquez a ride around the block to see whether they could find the abductor, who was seen on West 19th Street with Skylar in his arms.
Vasquez tried to chase the thief, yelling, “That’s my dog!” — but the man disappeared before the arthritis-ridden woman could catch him.
Heartbroken, she spent the next two months posting Craigslist ads offering a $300 reward for her dog.
“Every time I went by 19th Street, I was reliving it. Every time I went up that block, I would see him running and me not being able to keep up with him,” Vasquez said. “All that anger kept me going.”
Then, on Monday, an unidentified man in New Jersey saw one of Vasquez’s online ads and contacted her with news of Skylar.
Vasquez’s sister, who lives in Jersey, met with the man and paid him the reward.
It was a joyous reunion.
“As soon as [Skylar] saw me, he recognized me and he just went to jump out the window from my sister’s lap,” said Vasquez, who could not say whether the man who returned Skylar had anything to do with the pooch’s kidnapping.
Vasquez took Skylar to the vet, and the microchip was implanted. She plans to take the little guy to a spa to celebrate his return.
“All the hard work paid off,” she said. “He was worth every moment of searching for him, every stress.
“There was a hole in this house.”