UPDATE Poodle Snatched from Car in Milford Found in New Haven

By Patch Editor Jason Bagley

A small poodle that was snatched from a car at the Connecticut Post Mall on Sept. 14 has been reunited with its owner.

“I can’t believe I beat the odds,” Betty Barriga, the owner of the 5-year-old poodle, Delilah, told Milford Patch Monday. “I got my dog back.”

Six days after reporting Delilah stolen, Barriga said she received a call Friday night from a woman in New Haven.

“She said she found the dog wandering around the street,” Barriga said. “She picked up the dog thinking it was her mother’s but her mother said it was the one on TV.”

Barriga said several media outlets contacted her after she reported the theft to police. She also distributed more than 400 color fliers in Milford and surrounding towns in her search for Delilah.

Barriga drove from her home in Seymour to meet with the New Haven woman and, lo and behold, the poodle she claimed to have discovered on the street was Delilah.

As a reward, Barriga said she gave the woman what cash she had on her, which was about $30. “I offered to give her a check” but she declined, Barriga said.

Delilah, a trained therapy dog, was taken from Barriga’s older model Honda Accord sometime between 6 and 7:15 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 14, police said.

Before entering the mall, Barriga left the car with all four windows partially open and the Seymour woman now suspects the gap was wide enough for a person to reach in and pull the latch to unlock.

Barriga said next time she goes shopping she will detour home to drop off the dog.

Original story:

Milford police say they are investigating a complaint regarding a dog that was taken from a parked car at the Connecticut Post Mall on Saturday, Sept. 14.

At the same time, the poodle’s owner has issued a plea to the public.

“This is a member of my family,” Betty Barriga told Milford Patch Tuesday morning. “I take my dog just about everywhere.”

The dog’s name is Delilah and she is described as a 5-year-old white poodle with a pink spot on her nose, weighing about 12 pounds and about 12 inches tall. Delilah was wearing a rhinestone-studded pink collar at the time of the reported theft.

Barriga said she left the poodle in the car with all four windows partially open and a bowl of water at about 6 p.m. Saturday. The vehicle was parked in the lower level garage on the north side of the mall, she said.

When she returned about an hour later, Delilah was gone.

“I’m sure when they took her, they could see it was a dog well taken care of,” Barriga said. “If it was an activist thinking they were doing a good deed, I hope they think again.”

Barriga said mall security told her the car was parked out of the range of surveillance cameras.

Delilah was a gift Barriga received from her mother four years ago. The dog has been used as a therapy dog at Griffin Hospital.

Anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of the dog is asked to either call police at 203.878.6551, email police at kmagnan@ci.milford.ct.uc or submit a crime tip at www.milfordpd.org.