The story of four top show dogs that were stolen appears to have a happy ending.
The last of the missing dogs, Pembroke Welsh Corgis named Bunny and Peter, were reunited after a mysterious midnight (1:30 a.m., actually) rendezvous. According to a posting on the AKC / Eukanuba National Championship Facebook page:
***CORGI'S ARE FOUND*** What a way to start the day! We don't have a lot of details, but we have confirmed that they are safe and reunited with their very happy and exhausted owners! Congratulations Kristine Rickard!
Owners Kristina Rickard and David Peek, who are from Redding, were in town for a show in Long Beach, where they planned to show the Akitas (a Japanese breed similar to a husky) and the Corgis.
To keep the dogs cool, the couple left the prized pooches in their 2006 Chevrolet Express Van parked outside a Bellflower Motel 6. The couple awoke early Tuesday morning and realized the van was gone and reported it stolen.
On Wednesday after several anxious hours of waiting, the two Akitas, one said to be worth about $250,000, had been located. Authorities had found the missing van in Compton and sent the two dogs to a county-run animal shelter in Downey to be reunited with their owners.
But the Corgis' whereabouts remained a mystery -- until late Wednesday. Peek's mother said that's when her son received a phone call from someone who said he/she had the dogs. The caller sent Peek pictures on his cell phone, and they met about 100 miles away, Peek's mother said.
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The dogs were returned to Peek during the 1:30 a.m. rendezvous. They were at the show Thursday in Long Beach.
All of the dogs had been implanted with identifying microchips, and Rickard said the dogs are worthless without their paperwork showing their American Kennel Club pedigree.
Rickard and Peek offered an unspecified reward for information leading to the missing dogs. If was not yet know if the reward would be claimed.
All together, the dogs were estimated to be worth about $500,000.
