Puppy snatchers sour the outlook of Clarinda couple
BY ELIZABETH AHLIN
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

Call it the case of the pilfered puppies.

A Clarinda, Iowa, couple got a rude awakening April 22 when they rose to find that one of their beautiful baby bulldog pups had been stolen from the kennel on their farm.

It was a blow to Jon and Jane Stimson, who have bred bulldogs for about 22 years.

Then the unthinkable happened. Seven more puppies were pinched two days later.

The southwest Iowa breeders now are out eight English bulldogs with a market value totaling about $12,000 and they're feeling a little unsure about whom to trust.

"We like our lifestyle out in the country, where you trust everybody," said Jane Stimson. "Now everybody's a suspect. It's not a pleasant thing."

The first puppy was stolen the day after the Stimsons had taken puppies with them on a short trip to a Beautiful Bulldog Contest in downtown Des Moines.

The winner of the contest, held in connection with an annual track competition at Drake University, is dubbed the new Drake Relays mascot.

The Stimsons' animals weren't entrants, but the couple watched the contest with two puppies on hand. When one of those very puppies was stolen the next day, they thought it could have been someone they met in Des Moines.

"We figured somebody saw it and liked it and wanted it," said Jane Stimson.

But when the other dogs were taken, they started to wonder if the culprit was closer to home. Now they don't know what to think.

Page County Sheriff Lyle Palmer is investigating.

It's not the first time Palmer has looked for a stolen dog in his area it's happened about three times in the last decade but those were hunting dogs taken during hunting season, and only one dog was stolen each time.

The Stimsons have beefed up security at their home, where they farm and breed dogs.

They assume the dogs were taken as part of a "money-making scheme," Jane Stimson said. She wants area dog brokers and dog buyers to keep an eye out for English bulldog pups being sold without papers.

Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff at 712-542-5193.

The Stimsons understand people being charmed by the dogs' characteristic "sour mugs," said Jane Stimson. But they want their puppies back.

"It's just been a pleasant kind of a business because these dogs, you know, they're kind of therapy," she said. "Even though you're breeding them to sell them, you love your dogs." ,

Contact the writer: 444-1310, elizabeth.ahlin@owh.com

Copyright 2009 Omaha World-Herald. All rights reserved.
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