They had their 60-inch flat-screen TV taken, their house is a ransacked mess - but all a Burnaby family really wants back after a break-in Friday night is Lily, their 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 "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 multiple 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 lawn. 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.
"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 said.
Lily has an identification tattoo on the inside of her thigh, a pink nose and light brown eyes. Anyone with information is asked to contact the B.C. SPCA.
