FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (1010 WINS) -- A New Jersey family was reunited with their 3-month-old Labradoodle after the puppy was stolen along with their car in Morris County this week.
Jaclyn Katz said she had left her BMW running for a couple of minutes at a CVS in Florham Park on Monday night as she ran inside to get a prescription. When she came back, the car and the dog, Bauer, were gone.
“Sheer panic, because I didn’t really care about the car, but I knew he was in the car, and the car was gone and he was not here anymore,” Katz said of Bauer, who the family had just gotten before the holidays.
Katz quickly filled social media with pictures and posts about Bauer, but she said she was fearful of the worst.
“To be totally honest, my husband and I were trying to prepare ourselves and our young children that he may not be coming home,” she said.
Then the family got incredible news on Tuesday—a woman had found Bauer walking along busy Route 78 near Newark Airport.
“We were just so grateful that she was returning him to us,” Katz said. “She said she was driving home from work. She had found him on the side of the road. She had seen a lot of the social media posts. And she was able to connect with us.”
Katz said her car still hasn’t been recovered but she doesn’t care because Bauer’s back home.
“Just really happy we were able to bring him home and my kids were able to be with him again,” she said. “It was really surreal.”
She said it’s the last time she’ll leave her car running.