The distraught owners of the sick Chihuahua have made a desperate plea to the heartless thieves who stole their beloved pet and have offered a reward for its return.
Thieves seized an Uber van rented by Luke Renfrew and Rhys Habermann while they were moving house in the inner Melbourne suburb of South Yarra on Thursday night.
CCTV captured the moment the opportunistic thieves boarded the van and fled with the men’s chihuahua Diesel still inside the vehicle.
Uber tracked the van for a kilometer before the thieves disabled the GPS device.
Diesel owners are frantically worried about their sick pet, who suffers from a neurological condition and needs regular medication.
Diesel the Chihuahua is still missing 48 hours after he was stolen by opportunistic thieves
“Someone just stole the car,” one of Diesel’s owners shouted.
‘Are you serious?’ the other man asked.
‘And the dog, what the hell?’ exclaimed the first man.
The men told Seven News the loss of their beloved pet left them in deep distress.
“I feel bad,” Mr. Renfrew said.
“I think I’ve slept two hours in three days.”
Habermann said he was “devastated” and had been crying for the past two days.
The men have offered a reward to anyone who can help them find Diesel amid growing concerns about the dog’s deteriorating health.
“If you don’t have the medication, you get very sick for 48 hours,” Mr. Habermann said.
Renfrew added that no charges will be filed if the robbers return Diesel.
“We don’t care about the van, we just want our dog back,” he said.
Security cameras captured the opportunistic thieves fleeing at full speed in a rented van on Thursday night.
Luke Renfrew and Rhys Habermann are desperate to be reunited with their beloved dog