They had their 60-inch flat-screen TV and $3,000 generator taken, their house is a ransacked mess - but all a Burnaby family really wants back after a break-in Friday night is Lily, their precious chihuahua.
"We're absolutely, completely heartbroken that Lily is gone. I'm dying not knowing where she is," said 36-year-old mother and business owner Jenelle Ladret on Monday.
She and her two daughters, aged 10 and 14, have begun an exhaustive search for their 21/2-year-old "priceless" teacup.
Ladret, who owns and operates a smoothie, frozen fruit and Popsicle business at fairs and public gatherings, had brought her daughters with her to North Vancouver's Green Market Friday when, at 11 p.m., she saw she had an inordinate number of messages on her cellphone.
It was a Burnaby RCMP officer telling Ladret her back door had been kicked in and her family's possessions were strewn on the front lawn.
"I asked her about our dogs and she said she wasn't sure if the dogs were in the house because she hadn't been into the house yet."
When the family returned home, their Boston terrier, Sheba, was in the back of a police car while Foxy, their chihuahua-terrier cross, had been put back into the home by a neighbour. But no sign of Lily.
She now suspects the worst. "Lily is an expensive little purebred chihuahua. They are like a high commodity among bad guys, I think. They could have kicked her or sold her. I don't know at this point."
Ladret and her girls fear the thieves will be back and plan to move. But before they go, the family just wants their little "cuddle monkey" back.
Lily has an identification tattoo on the inside of her thigh, a pink nose and light brown eyes. "A rare looking chihuahua," said Ladret.
If anyone has any information please contact the B.C. SPCA.
