Update: Paws Atlanta shelter finds one of the dogs stolen Friday morning

A metro animal shelter that says it had three puppies stolen on Friday says it has located one of the dogs.

Emilia, a pit bull mix, was found safe with “a few scratches and a hungry belly” on Friday night, the shelter said.

“Last night, September 16, around 8 p.m., a PAWS Atlanta volunteer spotted a photo of a puppy on the Nextdoor app that strongly resembled one of our missing pups.” the department said. “The dog had been wandering, scared, in someone’s yard for a few hours. The volunteer contacted PAWS Atlanta staff, who immediately drove to the location and determined that it was, indeed, Emilia!”

The department said she was found near the shelter.

“It’s possible that, because Emilia was rescued from a neighborhood only a short distance from the shelter, she may have escaped from the man who stole her after being taken. It’s also possible that he lives in the area, but we can’t say anything for sure at this time,” the shelter said.

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The shelter asks followers to stay vigilant on social media, Craigslist, and Nextdoor so they can bring the remaining three dogs home.

DeKalb police responded to the PAWS Atlanta shelter on a suspicious person call around 2:30 a.m. Friday When officers showed up, they found the front entrance of the shelter broken into.

Shelter manager Laura McKelvey says the thief used a huge piece of concrete to smash a window in a door and get inside early Friday morning.

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The shelter says it found a fourth dog they think escaped from the thief off its leash. Two dogs were also loose in one of the buildings.

“People come and go here, and somebody knew the layout here,” shelter manager Laura McKelvey told Channel 2′s Audrey Washington on Friday.

The two remaining dogs, Violet and Princeton, have still yet to be found. Violet is a pit bull mix, and Princeton is a Yorkshire terrier.

PAWS Atlanta just started caring for Violet and Emilia after they were abandoned in a parking lot. Princeton’s owners had recently surrendered him to the shelter.

Anyone who recognizes the remaining two puppies is asked to contact DeKalb County police and PAWS Atlanta at 770-593-1155.

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