NJ family ‘desperate’ to find stolen therapy dog, offers $900 reward

Every day, Fito Irribarra, of Hillsborough, heads to New York in search of his 14-month-old therapy dog Angelo.

Angelo was snatched from his truck last week in the Bronx. His wife, Rhona, said he refuses to give up hope and the family is offering a $900 reward as an incentive for the pup's safe return.

Rhona told New Jersey 101.5 that the decision to increase the reward from $300 to $900 was done in order to entice anyone who may have seen Angelo, or who may have him, to contact the family and bring him home.

“No leads have panned out. We’re just so devastated by this whole thing and desperate to find him,” Rhona said of the 6-pound white Maltese.

She said her husband, an independent trucker, has regularly taken Angelo on his trips ever since Irribarra’s sister brought the dog to the United States from Chile last summer.

A CBS New York report stated that Irribarra was delivering to a business on Jerome Avenue in the Bronx last Thursday, when he believes someone entered his truck and stole both his GPS and his beloved therapy dog.

Angelo has trained himself to lick Irribarra’s arm when he senses the 58-year-old’s blood sugar rising.

Aside from being his therapy dog, Rhona said Angelo is also truly "man's best friend."

"My husband is just totally devastated because Angelo is literally his best buddy. It’s horrible. I can’t believe somebody would do this," Rhona said, tearfully.

"I’m so sick in the pit of my stomach that maybe he’s not being fed, is he cold at night, is he getting water? I’m sick over this," she said through tears.

Rhona said the entire ordeal has taken quite a toll on her and Irribarra. As an independent contractor, he hasn't been working much since Angelo's disappearance. She said she's also worried about his health, since his therapy dog isn't around.

She also said they're continuing to check every lead, and they've received a lot of well-wishes, support and help since Angelo disappeared.

"It’s restoring my faith in humanity to know there are such good people out there when I also know there are these horrible people out there who have devastated our lives," she said.

Rhona added that Angelo is very friendly, but she's not sure how he might react to people if he's "terrified." She said he may be scared to approach people. The dog is also microchipped, she added.

Toniann Antonelli is a social content producer for NJ 101.5. She can be reached at toniann.antonelli@townsquaremedia.com, or on Twitter @ToniRadio1015.