Cork man has dog stolen by man wielding hammer

A man, armed with what is believed to have been a hammer, got out of the car and threatened the man to hand over his dog

Rocco the dog was stolen in an incident on Ballincollie Road on Sunday evening. Picture: Denis McCarthy

Gardaí are investigating the robbery of a dog yesterday afternoon in Ballyvolane, Cork.

Denis McCarthy was out walking his dog, Rocco, on Ballincollie Road at around 4.30pm when the incident occurred.

He was walking his usual route with the family's beloved one-and-a-half-year-old French Bulldog when a white Ford Focus drove past him then turned in the lane and drove past again.

Speaking on The Neil Prendeville Show on Cork's RedFM, Mr McCarthy described the scary incident: "A man jumped out with a face mask on and his hood up with a hammer and he said 'gimme that fucking dog'. He tried to hit me a couple of times with the hammer.

"I was ducking trying to avoid it and he just grabbed the dog, got into the car and sped away."

Mr McCarthy said the man who took the dog was in the back of the car and there were two others in the front.

Despite the shock, Mr McCarthy thought to take a photo of the car as it drove away but when he looked at it, he saw the registration was covered.

"They knew what they were doing. It wasn't an opportunistic thing because they had already covered the reg."

Mr McCarthy thinks he was targeted because his dog would be considered an expensive breed and the thieves would seek to sell him.

When gardaí arrived on the scene, one Garda car went in search of the white Ford Focus while another stayed with Mr McCarthy.

Gardaí gave him the thumbs up to share the incident on social media and the post went on to receive thousands of shares and comments.

"I think social media is the reason I got him back. I cannot thank people enough."

Gardaí returned Rocco to Mr McCarthy and his family late last night.

The details on how the family's dog was recovered are not known at this time but Mr McCarthy is set to give a statement to gardaí later today.

Happily, Rocco was unharmed and is happy to be home, where he is being lavished with attention.

Gardaí said this morning that no arrests have been made in relation to the incident and the investigation is ongoing.