A North Carolina woman said her dogs were sold on Craigslist by a man she trusted to care for the animals while she was in the hospital.
Ekemini Udoh told WSOC she hopes someone recognizes the dogs and returns them to her.
“I am really heartbroken. I have been crying nonstop,” Udoh said. "They are my family. They are my kids.”
Udoh saved her dogs Rosie and Bella from going to a shelter in July.
The UNC Charlotte student from Nigeria had to go into the hospital in September and doesn't have family close by, so she reached out to the Humane Society and Animal Control to watch her dogs, because boarding was too expensive.
When those agencies couldn't help, she posted an ad on Craigslist offering $200.
A man named Jarred responded. After checking him online, she said she felt comfortable trusting her dogs to him.
Once in the hospital, though, she started to worry after Jarred asked for more money.
"As soon as I was discharged, I texted him that I had his money and that I'd like to get the dogs, and he told me he'd bring the dogs to me Thursday, Oct. 10," Udoh said.
But that never happened. Eventually, Jarred stopped responding to her calls.
“I thought it was all my fault. I trusted my dogs to a complete stranger,” she said.
She made another post on Craigslist explaining what happened.
People reached out to her saying the same person tried to sell her dogs to them.
The ad that Udoh said is offering her dogs is still up on the site. Udoh doesn't know where Bella and Rosie are now, but wants them home with her.
"I also need them to know that, and this might sound crazy, that I haven't abandoned them and I don't intend to, and I'm going to do whatever it takes to get them back,” she said.
Udoh did file a police report. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officials would only tell WSOC that it's an active investigation.
No one has been charged.
WSOC called the number Udoh had for Jarred and left a message. He has not returned the call.
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