The arrest of a suspect in a dog theft case in Sochi has given hope to its owner.

Police in St. Petersburg detained a woman suspected of stealing a bull terrier puppy in Sochi. The dog's owner secured a theft case but believes the thief should be held accountable for animal cruelty.

On September 17, police in St. Petersburg detained a woman who had been wanted a year ago for stealing a bull terrier puppy from a private home in the Khostinsky District of Sochi, Fontanka reported.

The woman was placed on a nationwide wanted list because she was hiding from investigators. The orders initiating the criminal case and recognizing the dog's owner, Elena Pozhidaeva, as a victim are in the possession of the "Caucasian Knot."

According to the order of the investigator of the Crime Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Khostinsky District of Sochi dated November 13, 2023, a criminal case was opened under the article on theft (Part 2 of Article 158 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The material damage was estimated at 123,000 rubles. The document states that "an unidentified individual, acting secretly, stole property belonging to Elena Pozhidaeva—a bull terrier puppy."

The dog's owner, Elena, told a "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that she had known the defendant in the case since 2019: their plots in a gardening community are located next to each other.

"She has four children. I knew who stole Peppa, and the cameras confirmed it. But for a whole year, I went from one agency to another, filed complaints, and tried to get a case opened. "It seemed incredible to me that you could just take a puppy and get away with it," Elena shared about the bureaucratic red tape with the police.

A puppy named Peppa went missing on November 7, 2023. The owner and volunteers searched for her in the neighborhood and on social media, but security footage showed that a neighbor had taken the dog. In the spring of 2024, Elena herself discovered Peppa—emaciated and locked in a cage in a shed on the property of the alleged kidnapper.

"She was in terrible condition: the cage was in the bathtub, with no food or water. Peppa was gnawing on the plastic from the shower tray to somehow survive," the owner recalls. Despite this, the victim was unable to open a case of animal cruelty. The police simply opened a theft case.

According to Elena, Peppa's return was only possible thanks to the intervention of animal rights activists. "The dog remained in the cage for over a day because I wasn't allowed near her. But volunteers got the cage out through the window, and only then did Peppa end up with me," she says.

Elena hopes the investigation will bring the case to a conclusion. "I want this case to be a model: animals cannot be treated like things. And for the culprit to be punished." According to her, the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region informed her of the arrest of the mother of many children who stole her dog on September 17, and criminal investigation officers found the accused on Blagovatnaya Street two days ago.

Lawyer Evgeny Bystrov noted that initiating a case under the article on theft is the minimum necessary legal response to the incident.

"But the factual circumstances - keeping the animal without water and food, its exhaustion and keeping it in inappropriate conditions - allow us to raise the question of additional qualification under Article 245 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Cruelty to animals"). Judicial practice knows of cases where such actions were recognized as cruelty, even if initially "We were talking about theft," the lawyer emphasized.

According to Klykov, the police's refusal to open a case under this article can be appealed to the prosecutor's office or in court. "It is important that such cases be considered comprehensively, since they involve not only property but also humanitarian aspects—the protection of animals as living beings," the lawyer added.

"Caucasian Knot" also reported that police in the Adler district of Sochi opened a criminal case under the article on cruelty to animals following a complaint from residents of the village of Nizhnyaya Shilovka, who on July 15 discovered a dead Alabai dog with its mouth and paws taped shut.

* Meta (owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp) is banned in Russia.