David Leicky is beside himself. He hasn’t seen his three best friends since Wednesday night when they were stolen in Leduc, Alta. along with his Jeep.
He’d just returned home after working a shift at a Nunavut iron mine on Baffin Island and taking from a 12-hour flight across the country.
“I got in, went home, played with my dogs for a couple minutes. I looked in the fridge and there was only one beer so I said, ‘I’m gonna run to the beer store.'”
He took Callie, Dakota and Maggie with him for the car ride.
“I take them everywhere with me. I treat them the best, kind. They’re so lovable and so full of love. They’re such a pleasure to have around.”
The decision to bring them along is haunting him now.
“I parked my car, jumped out, ran in and grabbed a case of beer. While I was standing at the till, paying for my beer, I look out the window and here’s my car, pulling out of the parking lot with my three dogs in it,” he explained.
Leicky left his car running to keep his little dogs warm.
“I’m thinking what the hell? Those are my dogs! I don’t care about the car. The car can be replaced. But the dogs, they’re my babies! They’re my pride and joy.”
After briefly trying to run after the Jeep, he called RCMP and they arrived to investigate. They haven’t found the dogs yet.
“I’m just so devastated. It’s unbelievable,” Leicky said, as he choked back tears. “They’re like children! I’m just sick. I can’t sleep, I can’t eat.”
Maggie is a 10-year-old Yorkie that’s black and brown. Dakota is a light brown Yorkie-Shih Tzu cross that’s also 10. Eight-year-old Callie is a white and grey Shih Tzu.
Friends put up posters and called every veterinarian they could think of as well as the SPCA. Still, there’s no sign of them 48 hours later.
“If they want money – you know, I’m not rich, but I’m willing to pay up to $1,000 to get my babies back,” he said, offering up a reward.
Missing is a 2010 Jeep Compass with the Alberta licence plate BBL-1228.
If you spot the dogs, or the vehicle, you’re asked to call police.