'I Just Want Her Back': The Search For Venice Owner's Stolen Dog

VENICE, CA — Kylie Sanders and her boyfriend Jon Landre have spent their days canvassing the streets of Venice in search of their dog Bella, who was stolen from Sanders' home in the middle of the night last week.

Sanders adopted Bella when she lived in Brooklyn. The dog was 3 years old then, and Sanders has had her for six years. Sanders said she is especially worried about her little white chihuahua because Bella has always been anxious and cries when her owner isn't around.

"She's my emotional support animal as well, and she traveled with me and all over the states. She's been on Amtrak, she's been on flights, she's just always been right by my side. I would do anything to have her here right now," Sanders said.

At first, Sanders and Landre thought Bella had just gotten out during the night of April 8 and was wandering around Venice. Sanders wasn't home that night because she was staying with Landre, but her four roommates were at home and had accidentally left the front door open for a little bit.

Landre said during that time between the door being open and shut again, Bella had walked outside and no one noticed. The next day when Sanders got home at around 9 a.m. to feed and walk Bella, the dog was nowhere to be found.

"It wasn't until we found security footage, maybe towards the end of the day on Sunday, that we realized that she had been taken and wasn't just wandering around," Landre said.

The pair was able to collect security footage by visiting stores and businesses around their Venice community that were more than willing to help. They don't have footage of Bella being taken, but they have multiple shots of four people walking around the area holding Bella.

The events of the night started at about 9 p.m. according to Landre, when a group of people were seen at a liquor store on the corner of Main Street and Horizon Avenue. From there, a neighbor told Sanders she saw the group sitting on her stoop holding Bella and asked them to give her the dog at around 11:30 p.m., but the group refused.

Over the course of time from 11:45 p.m. to about 1:30 a.m. the group was seen on security footage from many businesses they passed by on their journey. The people in the security footage can be seen laughing and at some points arguing with each other, eventually dwindling down to just one person holding Bella according to Landre.

Since then, Sanders and Landre have taken off time from their jobs and have visited countless people in Venice, following any lead that could take them to Bella.

"I can tell you that this has been the worst four days of our lives. There's not a moment of joy or even a neutral feeling," Landre said. "You are constantly anxious, constantly stressed, constantly in full distress 24 hours, every waking moment, because we don't know what happened to her."

On Thursday, Sanders got a tip about a chihuahua seen at a homeless encampment but was disappointed to learn it was a dead end and that the dog wasn't Bella. Since Bella went missing, Sanders said she gets tips and messages from people all around the community and even on social media sites like TikTok and Instagram.

Word had gotten out quickly, with one TikTok video getting over 54,000 viewers and almost 6,000 likes and TikTok star Dixie Damelio posting Bella's missing flyer on her Instagram story for her 24 million followers to see.

Sanders said everyone has really come together to help in this search for Bella. From local business owners to skateboarders at the local skatepark, it seems like everyone is looking for the little dog. People have even printed out their own flyers and have hung them up in many places throughout the city.

"I'm new to Venice, I've only been here since July, but the community has been so warm," Sanders said. "Everyone's first question is 'How can I help?' It's just so amazing to see this community come together and rally behind us."

Sanders and Landre said they don't believe the people who took Bella were from Venice, but, other than that, they have little to no information about the culprits. They said their hope is to get the word out to neighboring cities and counties to reach out to the people who took Bella and ask for her back.

The pair have filed a police report about Bella's abduction but said they aren't confident that they'll get much help from authorities. Bella is also microchipped and they've reported her missing to the microchip company and would be alerted if she was taken to a shelter or a veterinarian.

At the end of the day, they both said they only want Bella back — no questions asked. Sanders said she believes the people who have Bella have good intentions and she doesn't want to get anyone in trouble.

"I know how great my dog is, she is the best, but I just can feel in my heart how anxious and scared she is and I just want her back more than anything," Sanders said.