Emotional end to man's desperate search for stolen dog
There were emotional scenes on Thursday when a nine-year-old beagle was reunited with her distraught owner almost two weeks after she disappeared.
Geoff Schmutter, 85, and his partner Bev wept tears of joy and relief as they laid eyes on Millie for the first time since his SUV was stolen on the morning of June 22 with her inside.
“We thought we would never see you again,” the overjoyed couple told the happy little dog with her tail wagging furiously.
After 12 days of widespread coverage on both social and news media, Millie has been identified.
Victoria Police said council rangers had found the beagle on Tuesday on a street in the outer Melbourne suburb of Montrose in the Yarra Ranges — more than 60km north of where she was stolen.
Millie had then been taken to an animal shelter in the neighbouring suburb of Coldstream where staff had recognised her from social media.
"She means so much to me," Mr Schmutter told 7 News as he cuddled and fussed over Millie on Thursday.
“She's just like one of my children.”
The 85-year-old retired farmer and his partner had been searching for the dog since June 22 when he had parked his SUV outside his local milkbar in Blind Bight, southeast of Melbourne.
The pair normally walked down, but on this morning it was raining so Mr Schmutter had driven his SUV with the beagle coming along for the ride.
He ducked inside to buy a newspaper, leaving Millie alone for just minutes.
Shortly afterwards he hurried back outside to find both his vehicle and dog were gone.
“I just went numb. I was like, ‘what’s going on?’ I couldn’t believe it,” the retiree told 9 News.
“I raced onto the road and [saw the car as it] disappeared.”
Milkbar attendant Ryan Wiles described Mr Schmutter as “distraught” when his car was stolen with Millie inside.
“[Millie has been] his only friend for the past year, at least,” she said.
Two days after the theft Mr Schmutter’s Suzuki SUV was recovered nearly 60km from where it was taken, in the southeastern Melbourne suburb of Bentleigh, but Millie remained missing.
A 38-year-old woman from Hampton East was arrested in Bayside then released pending further enquiries.
Victoria Police have stated that the investigation remains ongoing.
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