[imagesource: Instagram / Valley of the Dogs]

I’ve heard of a few incidents of bulldogs, and in particular French bulldogs, being snatched around South Africa.

According to a 2018 article, French bulldog pups can fetch between R20 000 and R70 000, so that is some precious cargo.

Thankfully, none of the dognappings I’ve heard about have been anywhere near as violent as the attack on Ryan Fischer, Lady Gaga’s dog walker.

Last Wednesday night, Fischer took Gaga’s three pooches out for a stroll and was shot in the chest by a ‘dognapper’ with a semi-automatic handgun, whilst an accomplice waited in the vehicle.

Two of the dogs, Koji and Gustav, were taken, whilst a third, Miss Asia, was unharmed.

Footage of the attack was widely shared, with a porch camera capturing the moment of the attack, as well as the aftermath.

If you missed that, here’s ABC News’ coverage, which comes with a warning that it’s distressing to watch:

The good news is that Gaga’s pooches were recovered on Friday night, after a woman brought the two dogs to a Los Angeles police station.

They were unharmed, and the woman says she found them tied to a pole.

At this stage, police do not have any suspects.

The even better news is that Fischer is recovering well, and took to Instagram yesterday to detail what happened in two separate posts:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Saint Rocque (@saintrocque)

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Saint Rocque (@saintrocque)

For a summary, let’s head to the BBC:

He credited seeing [Miss Asia] next to him with giving him the determination to survive.

My panicked screams calmed as I looked at her, even though it registered that the blood pooling around her tiny body was my own,” he wrote in an Instagram post on Monday.

“I cradled Asia as best I could, thanked her for all the incredible adventures we’d been on together, apologised that I couldn’t defend her brothers, and then resolved that I would still try to save them… and myself,” Mr Fischer wrote…

Mr Fischer tagged the pop star in his Instagram post, writing: “your support as a friend, despite your own traumatic loss from your kids, was unwavering”.

“Your babies are back and the family is whole… we did it!”

Fischer is expected to make a full recovery.

Lady Gaga has yet to post about the return of her pooches, but TMZ reports that she will “gladly” pay the $500 000 she offered as a reward for their return to the woman who brought them into the police station.

Not a bad day’s work, that.

Hopefully, Fischer is also looked after by Lady Gaga.

[source:bbc]