Ontario family gets car stolen from Montreal parking lot with their dog still inside

A family from Ontario is pleading to be reunited with their dog.

Bella, a four-month-old puppy from Ontario, was last seen in the parking lot at Fairview Pointe-Claire on Montreal’s West Island on Saturday, when her owner’s vehicle was stolen — with her in it.

Rocco and Naomi DiRago’s car was found the next day, but their beloved husky/chihuahua mix — who they describe as a family member — remains missing.

“It’s hard to eat, it’s hard to do anything because she’s been such a big, huge part of our lives together, and really the centre of everything because she’s a puppy, she demands a lot of time and loves our attention,” said Naomi.

“Bella has touched all of our hearts and they’ve all met Bella and now that she’s gone, she’s like, how could this be, right? So, we’re hoping for a Christmas miracle that something will happen,” said Rocco.

“The car could be replaced, of course. We have insurance and everything else. But this dog… we’ve had it for two months. She’s only four months old and our kids are all grown, our grandchildren. I’ve been retired for a couple of years. So now we have this dog that I’ve become very attached to, and this dog is gone. So, it has a lot more repercussions than just vehicles and money being transferred.”

The DiRagos, from Roseneath, Ont., about 150 kilometres from Toronto, were in town for their grandson’s hockey tournament and came to the mall to warm up. They left Bella in her crate for about 40 minutes.

“We came out and we were ready to go back to the hockey tournament. And we didn’t see our car where we thought we parked it. So, we walked the parking lot for over an hour. Kind of frantic by now,” said Naomi.

They called the police and dealt with mall security in hopes to locate their Toyato Rav-4, which topped the list of the most stolen vehicles in Quebec in 2023.

According to the Journal de Montréal, the Fairview parking lot saw 185 vehicles stolen in one year as of November, about one every two days.

“We never thought that they would break into a car. No, it wasn’t something we had ever thought of here. It wouldn’t happen in our little community,” said Naomi.

“We’re also people of faith, being Italian, we’re Catholic. So we were, of course, in mass on that Sunday. And guess what we were praying for something to happen. The phone was on silent. So, when we came out, saw there was a message, a police called and said they found the car, which they said would be impossible to do,” said Rocco.

The vehicle was found in Ahuntsic-Cartierville, in the city’s east end. But there was no sign of Bella.

“The police say that the case is closed because the car was found, but, and because she’s only four months old, she hasn’t been microchipped yet, so they won’t look for an animal that’s just considered a stray,” said Naomi.

Bella is small, short-haired, weighs about 10 pounds and wears a red collar.

The DiRagos are offering a cash reward and can be reached at ready4itnoni@gmail.com.

“If your heart is moved to let her come back to us, we’ll make it worth your while. We really love her and that’s what matters. Money comes and goes but people and animals who touch your heart, you can’t buy that,” said Naomi.