Video captures woman swiping dog from porch

A five-year-old dachshund is missing after being taken from the porch of a Maryland home this month, Prince George’s County police said Wednesday as they released video of the earlymorning incident.

Anthony Velasquez, 21, said the female dog, named Canela, was a fifth-birthday present for his younger sister, who turns 11 on Monday.

“She’s devastated,” Velasquez said. “She said she doesn’t want nothing else but her dog back for her birthday.”

Police said the theft took place on March 6 about 5:35 a.m. in the 6200 block of Foster Street in an unincorporated section of Prince George’s County.

A woman is seen in the video walking up the steps of a home onto the porch and approaching Canela, the dachshund, who barks at the woman repeatedly. “No,” “Sit,” “Come on,” the woman says.

At one point, the woman bends down and Canela continues to bark repeatedly. As the woman attempts to touch the dog, Canela backs away. The woman says, “No, no.”

The one minute and 35 seconds of footage end there. Police said in a news release that the woman “ultimately takes the dog” and that another person is “believed to be involved in the theft.”

Velasquez said Canela was outside in the backyard but somehow got through an opening and made her way back to the front porch to be let in. By then, Velasquez’s stepfather, who had let her outside in the gated backyard, had already left for work and the rest of the family was asleep inside, Velasquez said.

Velasquez said he was staying at his grandmother’s when he received a call that morning from his stepfather, who had gotten a Ring doorbell notification of someone at the door. The Ring camera had captured the woman’s encounter with Canela.

“Everybody in the neighborhood, on the strip of Foster Street, knows that’s our dog. She stands out,” Velasquez said.

Anyone with information on Canela or who recognizes the woman in the video is asked to contact police at 301-516-5230, police said.