A North York family is feeling relieved to have their small dog back home after the pooch was picked up off their porch and taken to a shelter by a stranger.

Jesenia Silva told CP24.com Sunday night that she was “terrified” for the small pet after security camera images showed a stranger taking her from the front of her family’s home.

She said her family first noticed the dog was missing from the Jane Street and Sheppard Avenue area home shortly before 5 p.m. on Sunday.

“That’s when they proceeded to look outside and call her name,” said Silva, a student at Queen’s University who noticed through social media posts that her family was looking for their missing dog.

Silva said her sister had temporarily blocked her on social media because she knew she would be upset to find out that Negrita, the family’s 14-year-old toy poodle, was missing.

The family reached out on social media and enlisted friends and neighbours to help search the area for the missing pet. That’s when a neighbor offered to let them see surveillance footage from his security system.

In the video, a figure with white hair is seen approaching the small dog at the foot of the family’s lawn. The dog then retreats to the home’s porch, but the person pursues her, eventually picking her up and carrying her away to meet another figure waiting with a different dog on the sidewalk. The two then walk away, each carrying a dog.

While the intent of the person in the video is not clear, Silva said it’s possible that the person thought that the dog – who was not wearing a collar because she had recently been groomed – was lost. However she said she finds it strange that the person would not knock on the door of the home where the dog was sitting to check if the residents were her owners.

“She is on our property. They do come onto our porch,” Silva said. “For me, I probably would have knocked on the door to see if the dog belonged to them.”

Silva said Monday that the small dog was dropped off at a shelter on Sunday night.

While Negrita has wandered out of the house from time to time, Silva said she never goes far from home.

“She’s a very small dog and she does do that, where she’ll walk behind us or go (out) when the door’s open and we don’t notice, but she stays around the area,” Silva said.