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Fruitland woman's show dogs among those on van stolen in California

"It could have ended so differently," Ginger Read said. "I just want them to come home for a little while."

FRUITLAND -- Fourteen professional show dogs are safe and sound, after the van they were in was stolen in California. Two of the dogs call Fruitland, Idaho, home. KTVB talked with their mom Thursday about the emotional roller coaster she has been on in the last 24 hours.

"It was heart-wrenching to have to tell them (her two daughters) that their dogs were gone," Ginger Read said emotionally. "I just never want to go through that again."

Read says for 18 long hours she had no idea if her Chinese Shar Peis, Meena and Ash, would ever come back home. They were two of 14 show dogs traveling in a van on their way to the Woofstock Dog Show in California. Ginger had hired two professional handlers to drive Meena and Ash to the competition.

"They stopped at an In-N-Out fast food restaurant in Redding, California," Read said. "They left the van running because it was fairly warm. They parked in front of In-N-Out, and within 2 1/2 minutes they had walked in and walked out. It was on surveillance, and within 2 1/2 minutes the van was gone. It was just gone."

The suspect, shown in surveillance pictures released by Redding Police, ran out and took off with the van... and the 14 professional show dogs.

"Just utter shock," Read said. "Panic."

As was the rest of the professional dog breeding community. A lot of big, important dogs were inside that stolen van.

"There were a lot of number one dogs in the country. There were two pregnant dogs on this van. There was a boothound number one in the country. Chinese Crested, Rottweiler," Read said.

Read says within minutes the story spread like wildfire. The dog show community bombarded social media with calls for help. She says posts came in from all over the world.

"It would have been a devastation to our breeding community to lose these dogs," Read said.

Finally, a California Highway Patrol helicopter spotted the van, ditched in a remote area. The dogs were left inside with the windows rolled up and the doors locked. Read believes they found them in the nick of time.

"The police had to smash a window to gain entry, but the dogs wouldn't have last more than a few hours," Read said.

The local Humane Society in California picked up the dogs and had them checked out by vets. Read says some were treated for heat issues, but all are safe and will soon be reunited with their owners.

"Yeah, every dog is safe and sound," Read said. "It could have ended so differently. I just want them to come home for a little while. I just want to touch them."

Read says she expects to be reunited with Meena and Ash in the next few days. California police are still looking for the suspect.

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