CARLSBAD, N.M. (WHTM) — Police are looking for three search and rescue dogs stolen from a New Mexico woman earlier this month.
Dr. Kim Lark is alleging her estranged husband Jon Green stole her car and three dogs two and a half weeks ago in Carlsbad, New Mexico. She was at a hospice meeting where she’s gone every Thursday morning for the past 10 years. That’s when she heard her dogs barking.
“I jumped up. I ran out of the building. And I saw my car backing up with my dogs barking and then speeding away with a small SUV following it,” Lark said.
She says all three dogs, Zero, Storm and Felony are certified search and rescue animals.
According to the Texas Association for Crime Stoppers, Green is wanted out of New Mexico for 10 felonies including the car theft of Lark’s red 2015 Ford Expedition with the dogs. He’s considered armed and dangerous.
“It’s really disturbing. And when he broke in and took my car keys he also took my mom and dad’s checkbook. So he’s been forging checks all over the –I don’t even know where– the United States,” Lark said.
“Felony is eight. Storm is seven. Zero is four. And they go to work with me every day at the office. My patients miss them. I miss them terribly,” Lark said.
Felony was trained at Penn Vet Working Dog Center in Philadelphia to find victims who may be alive.
“She’s very special. She really didn’t like the police program. She didn’t like to bite people. She didn’t like the guns. But she’s a perfect search and rescue dog,” Lark said.
The missing dogs are also causing a problem for local officials working to find victims or someone who may be lost. Without Zero and Storm, there are no cadaver dogs in her area.
“A call went out last week, and local law enforcement was looking for a cadaver dog,” Lark said.
There’s a $50,000 reward for information that leads to the return of all three dogs. The dogs are considered valuable because of the countless hours of work that goes into training them.