Woman's French bulldog stolen at gunpoint by two men in Oakland

A French bulldog was stolen at gunpoint on Friday in Oakland, Calif., and police are now searching for suspects.

Holiday incident: Owner Hannah Nelson, who was visiting Atlanta for Thanksgiving, said her 2-year-old French bulldog, Merlyn, was taken out for a walk by her friend Marieke Bayens near Valdez and 24th Streets at around 6 p.m. on Nov. 26.

  • That’s when two men went up to them and held Bayens at gunpoint before speeding off the wrong way down the street in a car with Merlyn.

  • “Immediately one of them came in front of me, pointed a gun in my face and said, ‘Give me the dog’ and basically the other one had already gone to go grab Merlyn,” Bayens told KRON4.

  • Nelson flew back home the next day after hearing the news so she could cooperate with the police and make fliers for Merlyn.


Reward: Frenchies have reportedly become a main focus of robbers around the Bay Area recently and are sold for high prices.

  • “It’s hard. I can’t even understand why someone would want to do this, even coming home, him not running to the door to greet me or hearing him run around the background while I watch TV,” Nelson explained.

  • A reward website has been created to help find Merlyn.

  • "Most bulldogs have a solid color and he has hyena-like spots," Nelson told SFGate. "Something that is also distinctive about him is a white chest, it goes from his chin all the way down to his belly. He also has a large black spot on left shoulder."


Anyone with information on Merlyn is encouraged to call Oakland police.

Featured Image via KPIX CBS SF Bay Area

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