Stolen French bulldog ‘Diego’ reunited with Altadena family

'I'm so happy that he's back. I'm relieved he's safe,' the owner's 12-year-old son said.

An Altadena family was reunited with their French bulldog Diego after he was stolen from a relative’s home in Pasadena only two weeks prior.

Shortly after 1 p.m. on Saturday, Diego’s owner Dee DeLara said she received a phone call from the Pasadena Humane Society, stating that a nurse had turned him in after finding the 1-year-old dog tied to a post behind a hospital on Huntington Drive in Arcadia. Within 15 minutes after the call, Diego was reunited with his owners.

“I’m so happy that he’s back, I’m relieved he’s safe,” said DeLara’s 12-year-old son Austin, who was gifted the blue long-haired Frenchie by his mother eight months earlier.

The dog was stolen a day before Austin’s birthday.

Diego had been staying with the owner’s mother temporarily in Pasadena when he was stolen from her residence on April 20. Due to the lack of security camera footage, detectives from the Pasadena Police Department did not have leads on a suspect, Dee DeLara said.

“He came in and he acclimated really quickly. He ran straight to his toys,” Dee DeLara said, noting that Diego was exhausted but appears to be in good health, though he now has a slight limp.

“I think honestly the fact that he’s neutered saved him,” she said, because he couldn’t be used for breeding.

French bulldogs have been targeted by thieves in recent years for their high demand and expensive resale price in the black market.