By Paige Lambert

Losing a pet is never easy, whether it is a bottomed up goldfish or a furry friend that has strayed off. 

But when man’s best friend is stolen, the tragedy hits an all time high.

Georgia and Larry Degitz of Missouri know the extent of such tragedy all too well. 

The couple stopped in Buda earlier this month on their way to winter in Corpus Christi. They believe their dog was stolen during the short visit.

It was their fifth wintering trip with Cocoa, a male Cockapoo with silverish brown hair.

“He’s a lap dog and went everywhere we went,” Georgia said. “He was a part of our family.”

The couple parked their red F-250 truck and trailer at the Buda Cracker Barrel for a late lunch. When they returned to their truck, the door handle was broken and Cocoa was gone.

“These kind of things don’t happen in Missouri,” she said. “Maybe they needed the money.”

Incidences of dogs being stolen has happened in the area before. On Jan. 6, the Hays Free Press reported two dogs stolen in Kyle. The dogs, both pitbull mixes, helped Pierre Blanchard monitor his Type-1 diabetes and fluctuating blood sugar.

Blanchard has been hospitalized several times since the dogs were stolen in December.

Heather Dalby, director of the PAWS shelter, said there has been a minor flux in calls for stolen dogs. 

“Most were about animals that disappeared from backyards and showed an increase in missing bully breeds like Pitbulls,” Dalby said. 

While the dogs were lifelines for Blanchard, the Degitz were a lifeline for Cocoa. Whenever the couple would leave him to run errands or visit family, he would whimper and show signs of anxiety.

“He would look like he was thinking, where is my mom, where is my dad,” she said. “I need you now.”

Cocoa traveled with them everywhere until now. The couple was forced to move on to Rockport after having no luck with local shelters.

“Our friend helped us post on Texas lost dog sites, Facebook and we put up flyers everywhere,” Georgia said. “Our granddaughter picked him out when he was young so she’s heartbroken too.”

The couple filed a report with Buda Police and studied the Cracker Barrel surveillance video. The camera wasn’t aimed in the direction of the truck, she said.

Cocoa is 22 pounds and 15 inches tall, she said. The last time the couple saw him his hair was cut like a miniature schnauzer.

“He may look like a wooly lamb when all that hair grows out,” Georgia said. “We didn’t have him microchipped but he would know us when he sees us.”

Dalby said the best safeguard against losing a pet long term is to have them microchipped. 

The chips hold I.D. numbers that can be traced to the company holding the contact information.

“The biggest misconception is that it’s a GPS,” Dalby said. “It’s not very invasive to scan the chip and implanting it just feels like a vaccination.”

Dalby said pet owners could also use no-slip collars and include additional numbers on dog tags if needed. 

 “When your dog does escape, or you think it’s stolen, don’t give up,” Dalby said. 

The couple plans to circle back to Austin in a month and hopes Cocoa will pop up by then.

“We are just waiting for our loved one to come back,” Georgia said.