An Austin man's stolen SUV was recovered in Dallas along with his two pups inside Tuesday night.
The vehicle, stolen in Austin at about 8 p.m., was tracked by authorities to the parking lot of a Whataburger off of the Inwood Road exit along Interstate 35E in Dallas. Inside of the vehicle - the man's tool kit and his two prize possessions, dogs named Mela and Butch, investigators said.
The suspect, whose name has not yet been released, made the 200 mile drive with the dogs riding in the back of the vehicle the entire way.
When deputies found the vehicle, two unknown people reported that the suspect attempted to sell them the Honda CRV for $200, according to the Dallas County Sheriff's Deputies at the scene.
The suspect was arrested and one of the dogs, Butch, was recovered immediately inside of the SUV.
Mela did not make it easy for deputies. She ran from the vehicle, apparently agitated from the confusion and the long ride, and immediately bolted for the highway, deputies said.
Mela then turned tail and ran back across the Whataburger parking lot, into the lot of the Homewood Suites next door and immediately tucked herself underneath of a parked car.
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By this time the owner, a Mansfield resident working in Austin, had contacted his brother in Arlington to go retrieve his animals.
The brother helped officers in the effort to coax Mela out from beneath the car.
Even a hamburger from Whataburger would not bring her out, deputies said.
The City of Dallas Animal Control office did not respond. Deputies turned to a less conventional means to free the nervous and potentially agressive dog.
A security officer from the hotel brought out some sheets, to use as a screen wall, and a broom to prod the dog into a kennel placed at one end of the car.
After roughly three hours, Mela finally relented and scooted into the crate.
The dog's owner's brother took the two dogs home to Arlington overnight, where they will later be reunited with their master.
