Crime

Dog stolen on Beacon Hill, returned 7 hours later after owner’s emotional plea

"I will give you whatever you want, just bring her back," Maura Howley, the dog's owner, said to news cameras.

Rose McNugget, a terrier mix, was stolen while she was being walked on Beacon Hill Monday. Courtesy Photo

March 20, 2023

A Beacon Hill woman’s emotional plea to have her stolen dog returned seems to have worked. The dog was snatched off the street Monday morning while her dog walker picked up another dog, but was returned about seven and a half hours later.

“I will give you whatever you want, just bring her back,” Maura Howley, the dog’s owner, said to news cameras. “Just bring her back. Please don’t hurt her. She’s my everything.”

The dog is an 11-pound terrier mix named Rose McNugget. WCVB reported that Howley adopted her about five years ago from Puerto Rico through a rescue service called Paws4Survival.

WCVB reported Monday evening that the dog had been returned to Howley around 7:30 p.m. in Mattapan, but that it is unclear how they were reunited.

Happy Reunion! A little dog that was snatched off the street in Beacon Hill has been returned to her owner! Rose McNugget was found in Mattapan hours after two men stole her while she was on a dog walk @wbz #wbz pic.twitter.com/u1GZUCjM2y
— Tammy Mutasa (@TammyWBZ) March 21, 2023

According to the police report about the kidnapping, Rose’s dogwalker called police to report the kidnapping at 11:57 a.m. He told police he was walking three dogs, including Rose, and had tied their leashes to a pole at the corner of Mount Vernon and Walnut Streets while he left to pick up a dog nearby.

As he was leaving the fourth dog’s home, he told police, he saw a man grab Rose and get into a blue Honda which was being driven by another man. The car then took off down Walnut Street before taking a right onto Beacon Street, the report says.

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Dominic Mariano, Rose’s dog walker, told reporters he left the dogs alone for just two minutes.

“It’s like stealing someone’s kid. I know what I’d feel like if someone stole my dog,” he said.

Rose had an air tag on her when she was stolen, the police report said, but police found it on the ground on Beacon Street where it last pinged. Police searched the area, but did not find Rose or a blue Honda.

Police obtained security camera footage from nearby Washington Street that showed a blue Honda driving past at 11:58 a.m., the report said, but it is unclear whether they were able to discern the license plate on the car.

Boston police spokesperson John Boyle declined to say whether police had identified a suspect Monday afternoon before Rose was returned, but did say no arrests had been made in connection with the case.

He did not immediately return a request for updates on the case Monday evening.