Menpu is a rescue dog and one of the mascots at Amazing Small Animal Practice on Western Avenue.
He was being watched by a staff member's family on Sunday when the dog escaped through an open window.
The family said they saw a post on the Citizen app later that day alerting that someone had found Menpu, but when they went to pick him up, the dog had already been turned over to someone else.
"That was like somebody took one of our children here," said Beverly Mays, the co-owner of Amazing Small Animal Practice. "We couldn't even work, we didn't sleep. It was like two days of hell here. No one could function at all."
In the days that followed, the practice received countless calls from scammers trying to cash in on the reward money.
Some called claiming to have Menpu. The practice set up a location to meet the callers, but they never showed.
The callers' demands were clear: money first then the dog. However, everything changed on Wednesday.
"We got a call, and they said they had our dog," recalled Mays. "We said, 'First thing, describe something special about the dog,' and they said there was a heart tattoo on the belly, nobody knew except the staff here. We said that we wanted them to give us the dog back. They said only if the police are not involved."
The practice told the callers to drop off the dog at the nearest animal hospital where a microchip scan would confirm its identity.
The scammers managed to get the family to pay them $5,000 through Venmo, but Beverly said it was worth it.
"Everybody in the hospital was involved on what happening, so we're like, 'Oh you know, we have to see this moment,'" said Andrea Estrada, a receptionist at 911 Vet care in Lancaster who helped with the reunion. "I came out with Menpu, the kids overfilled with joy, mom also overfilled with joy, Menpu overfilled with joy, he just went ahead and like charged, it was a very sweet thing."
Mays is now sharing advice for anyone who may be in a similar situation.
"If anybody finds a dog, don't post the picture because that's how they got him. The person that found him put the picture of him on Citizen App and just said, 'Is this your dog?' A guy shows up in 10 minutes ... 10 minutes ... and took the dog and says, 'Yeah, it's my dog.' Ask for identification and ask for microchips and ask for identifying marks. Anything. Don't just hand over the dog to anybody."
The Gardena Police Department said Menpu's owner was one of the lucky ones because many ransom cases get out of hand quickly.
If something like this happens to you, call authorities immediately and file a report.