A black Labrador retriever has been reunited with its owner a month after it was stolen from a Toronto backyard.
The dog named Gamble was snatched from Sylvia Yuan's yard in the Leslie Street and Sheppard Avenue area in August. Yuan filed a police report, but said she never expected to see her beloved pet again.
"It's like a miracle today," Yuan's friend Cody Hu told CTV Toronto on Monday as Yuan and Gamble were reunited by Toronto police.
Last week, a house was raided and a suspect was taken into custody. Hundreds of stolen items were found, believed to have been taken during a five-month rash of break-ins in Yuan's neighbourhood.
Gamble was found among the purses, sunglasses and wallets last Monday, police said.
"It was probably the least expected (item). To get a live dog is not something we recover very often," Det. Richard Hagedus told CTV Toronto's Zuraidah Alman.
Police compared the report on the stolen dog to their discovery, and tracked Yuan down.
Yuan went to a police station on Sheppard to pick up Gamble, who bounded across a courtyard toward his owner when he saw her. The dog wagged his tail, jumped up and ran in circles around his owner before licking her face.
"I'm very happy and very thankful for all the police officers who took time to look for my dog," Yuan said, holding back tears.
"I almost gave up."
With files from CTV Toronto's Zuraidah Alman
