Suspected dog thief targeting Chester County neighborhood

WEST CALN TWP., Pa. (WPVI) -- Owners, desperate to have their dogs back, believe someone is targeting their Chester County neighborhood.

Miley the Golden Retriever and her best friend 6-month-old Macy the German Shepard have been missing for a few weeks.

They belonged to the King family on Ash Road in West Caln Township.

"We really want them back. They are family pets and are dearly missed," Ruth King said.

King says the Friday after the New Year, the dogs were roaming their 10-acre property as they always do.

But for some reason, they ran up to the road.

"There was an Amish neighbor driving on the road with a pony cart. The puppy in her naughtiness, I guess, she decided to follow, and where one goes, the other goes, they're buddies," King said.

King says a neighbor told her a man in a green van came across the dogs on the road. The neighbor had a brief conversation with him.

"One of our neighbors said, 'I actually talked to the guy that picked them up. There's a dark green 15 passenger van,' described just like my daughter had; we know it was the same person," King said.

She's told that man loaded their dogs into his van.

Then King says, her daughter, who was home alone, tells her that a man in a green van pulled into their driveway, got out, and banged violently on their door.

"If he would have just gently knocked or maybe rang the doorbell, she would have possibly answered it, but he banged on the door like he was angry," King said.

King says it appears that man drove away with their dogs.

It just so happens King's neighbors had their three dogs disappear on New Year's Day.

Reports say their dogs were last seen behind the Amish schoolhouse then vanished.

West Caln Police Chief Kurt Martinez says they are investigating.

"It sounds like somebody took the dogs and took them out of the area," Martinez said.

Martinez advises dog owners to keep a closer eye on their pets until the suspect is found.