“MOCHI’S GONNA FREEZE to DEATH”

FIVE YEARS AGO THIS FEBruary, two men hopped into a van belonging to the River West pet daycare service Urban Out Sitters and drove off, making international news and triggering a citywide panic. The van contained at least six dogs waiting to be taken home. The dogs’ owners, along with animal lovers everywhere, feared that the thieves would dump the pets on the street, or worse, during what was one of the coldest Februaries Chicago had ever experienced.

Here, four of the dog owners recall that anxious night—and the peculiar twist that followed.

ROB SAYRE, owner of Jadyn

I know the day I got Jadyn because it was my sister’s birthday: September 14, 2007. She was just a puppy — 7, 8 weeks old. A beagle-Lab mix. I guess she chose me — she pooped on my shoe.

ALLISON EGOS, owner of Brad Pitt and Scarlett

Of the dogs that were stolen, I had two, both rescues. Brad Pitt is a Yorkie, and Scarlett is a border terrier. Brad Pitt had been kept in a cage as a puppy mill dad for six years, one of those dogs that you see in the ASPCA commercials, shaking and matted. Scarlett is gregarious she thinks everybody is her friend except the squirrels—but Brad Pitt has PTSD. The moment you try to touch him, he shows his teeth. I named him Brad Pitt because I thought, “He deserves something people can remember.”