Missing Calgary dog, lost when thieves stole owner’s truck, dies after being hit by car

A severely injured Rosco, a three-year-old Belgian shepherd who went missing after a truck was stolen from Calgary’s Lakeview neighbourhood, was found Thursday night but died after being taken to the vet.

A passerby found the dog on Tsuut’ina Trail, between Southland Drive and Glenmore Trail, around 6:45 p.m. after he had been hit by a car.

Rosco was rushed to a clinic where the veterinary team attempted to revive him but he could not be saved.

“Rosco is a Belgian shepherd, he’s blonde in colour, he has one floppy left ear. It’s quite cute,” Craig Johns, Rosco’s owner, told Global News while the dog was still missing.

Johns said he was heading out on Wednesday when he realized he had left his wallet inside the house. He ran inside, leaving Rosco in the vehicle.

He said that’s when a person jumped out of a passing car and into Johns’ running truck – stealing the truck and Rosco along with it.

“These are so often crimes of opportunity. Thieves are actually quite smart and quite resourceful but they are also willing to take the easy job when they can,” said Dominic Schamuhm with the Alberta Motor Association.

Johns said on Thursday before Rosco was found “I just want (my) dog back. Trucks are replaceable (but) this (dog is) part of the family.”