Spectrum Employee Caught On Camera Stealing Puppy

A pet dog was returned to its owner Tuesday, a day after a cable company employee was filmed stealing the pooch from her yard in Southern California.

Melissa Cortez, the owner of the dog, said her family thought the 10-month-old pug, Andrew, had somehow managed to escape from the backyard. However, CCTV footage from her neighbor’s home showed an employee from the Spectrum cable company, opening the gate and taking away the pooch. Cortez was not a customer of the company.

Footage of the incident shared on Twitter on Monday morning showed the employee getting down from a Spectrum cable company vehicle and walking toward the house. A few moments later, he walks back to the truck, holding the dog in his hand and drives away.

The dog was returned to Cortez by a Spectrum senior director of security Tuesday morning. Though the employee, accused of stealing the dog, was initially placed on paid administrative leave, he was fired Tuesday evening.

"The employee involved has been informed that he has been terminated," the company said.

Cortez said she was ecstatic about getting her pet back.

“Words can’t explain how ecstatic I was to have Andrew home. My heart was whole again just seeing his happy little face,” she told People. “The Spectrum people just brought my baby back and I am beyond grateful that he is OK and safe. That's what was important to me - just to get my baby back.”

Speaking of her pet, Cortez said, “He’s typically well-behaved and extremely trusting. Him running away crossed my mind and for that same reason, I went to the shelter to register him as missing in case he got picked up by someone.”

Recalling her reaction on seeing the CCTV footage for the first time, Cortez said, "It was horrifying. It's one thing when someone comes to your house to take your dog, it's another thing when you trust these type of people to come to your home,” ABC 13 reported.

“At first, I was distressed and worried about what could’ve happened to him. After I watched the footage, I was angered to see it was a person in a position so many people would trust into their home,” she added.

Cortez was planning to press charges against the accused.

"I want justice to be served. I'm not looking for anything but justice,” she said.