Co. Springs pet shop owner says viral puppy theft video isn’t rare; Thefts made her move her store

EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -  A viral video of two men staging a medical emergency in order to steal two bulldog puppies from a Centennial, CO, pet store has garnered national attention overnight. A long-time Colorado Springs dog retailer tells KRDO13 that puppy thefts are not uncommon, and it even forced her to move her store.

Bree Maestas was the owner of Pet City in the Citadel Mall for years, as it was a family business that began with her father. However over the course of just over two years, she says she suffered a dozen or so thefts of her stores' puppies.

Seeing the viral video from up in Centennial, Maestas says she feels for the employees.

"Employees take it very personal. It's... hard. You know, I saw in the video where the employees tried to jump in front of the gentleman and try to stop him. It's your natural instinct, 'cause you don't want anybody to get hurt," explained Maestas, who called the owner of the store in the video, who she is friendly with, to check in on everyone.

Maestas is no stranger to chaotic thefts either. Security video from November of 2023, shows four young men, including a juvenile, stealing a puppy from her store and even running her over and slamming her to the ground, before her employees fought with one of the suspects to stop them.

The four were charged with Felony Theft by Colorado Springs Police, due to the dollar value of the puppy. She says the juvenile didn't end up having the charge stick, while the others, have had the legal process slowly ordering restitution, or other sentences ever since.

Maestas says that incident was one of the final straws that made her to move out of the Citadel Mall, and ultimately open up a larger facility to properly care for and connect dogs with their forever families, in Peyton. The large maroon barn-looking structure seen off of Highway 24, is now Peak Legacy Ranch.

"It was a hard decision to make. I'm a fourth generation owner, you know, my dad opened his first store in the Citadel Mall in the 70s," said Maestas" That was hard, too, because I feel like we've been  a part of the Colorado Springs community for so many years." she added.

One of the stolen pups, seen below, was returned to the store Monday night according to the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office, from a Good Samaritan who recognized the dog from the sheriff's office's posts online, after having bought the pup.

Maestas says that one way to check to see if you've bought a stolen dog, who are all typically microchipped, is to check the national register to see if there are any puppies that are flagged.

She added that it's usually a red flag if the person selling the dog wants to meet at a parking lot or random place of business, instead of at their home or a breeding facility. She also says it should be a red flag to a buyer, if the seller doesn't know relevant medical history for the animal, such as what vaccines or shots they have had, since the animals are typically weeks old.

It's also why Maestas says that stealing these puppies usually bodes very negatively for the dogs themselves, since they're in need of lots of care so early in their life.

"Their nutrition is so important. And so, yeah, it is like I said it to me, it's neglect because they're not going to get that care that they're supposed to be supposed to be getting." said Maestas, who also said it's a reason why the penalties for stealing dogs should be higher.

In the meantime, the other dog that was taken from the store in Centennial still remains lost, and three other suspects tied to the theft are wanted by authorities. The man who faked the seizure, Timothy Davis, was arrested. His mugshot is shown below.