Ten German shepherd puppies were stolen early Monday morning from a backyard kennel on Black Diamond Drive in Nanaimo.
Five of the eight-week-old puppies have been recovered.
The owner told Nanaimo RCMP officers that her daughter was woken up about 3 a.m. by a noise in the backyard.
The teen ran onto a deck to find out where the noise was coming from and saw several people wearing tuques and hoodies running away with the puppies to a dark-coloured SUV, RCMP said. They drove off toward Jingle Pot Road.
Police ask anyone with information on the whereabouts of the puppies to call the Nanaimo RCMP non-emergency line at 250-754-2345.
