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Sunni Liston has always loved dogs. It was love for the animals that prompted her to start a business almost 20 years ago. She and her husband run a "doggy day-care" centre out in rural Clackamas County, Oregon where dogs from across the Portland area can get plenty of fresh air in the great outdoors.

For years, staff from the centre have picked-up and dropped their furry customers back from the city centre in their "Woofmobile" vans. It was during one of these routine drop-offs on Tuesday that the robbery happened.

Outside the vehicle for less than a minute while giving a woman her dog back, Ms Liston recalled how someone jumped behind the wheel and began driving off with the beloved pets still inside - running over her foot in the process.

"I tried to chase it down the street, you know, limping and hoping I could catch it at a stop sign. But it wasn't stopping," she told the BBC. With the owners gathering at the pick-up point, Ms Liston had to explain to each that their dogs had been stolen.

Technology wasn't her strong point, but some of her younger staff and clients realised they could use in-built tracking software on her iPhone still inside the van to locate the stolen animals. With news spreading quickly on social media about the theft, friends began to help look for the vehicle on GPS in the area it seemed to be heading. "People just mobilised," she recalled about the ordeal.

With years in the industry, she has cared for generations of pets for some of her customers. The welfare of all of them inside was important to her, but Mrs Liston had particular fear for the safety of her Corgi mix rescue dog, Howard, who had been in the front seat.

"I was afraid if he reacted poorly to the person or something that he may hurt my little dog," she said. "And then it came to me quickly that every person there... I realised everybody's heart was in that van."

With police called and volunteers on the lookout, the friend of one of her employees managed to track the van down and try to block it in with her own car. It is then thought the perpetrator fled on foot, leaving the van behind.

Thankfully for Ms Liston and the other dog owners, all of the animals were safely recovered - though some of her personal belongings inside were taken.

The BBC approached Portland police for comment. Ms Liston said an officer was looking into surveillance footage and, although no arrests have yet been made, she feels the nature of the crime means it was a carefully planned attempted dog theft.

"I've been at that same spot at the same time of day, for 15 years every day," she said. "We're quite certain because of the speed in which it was done, that it was somebody that had watched what I was doing and cased it out or something. It was done so quickly."

The business owner credited her two young employees, Alesha and Katelynn, for their quick-mindedness in using technology to help track the dogs down. "They [the perpetrator] weren't smart enough to throw the phone out. And that saved [the dogs]," she said.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55942663

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