This French Bulldog Disappeared From His California Home and Was Found Weeks Later in Tijuana

Phot via ABCLiz/Twitter

Looks like French bulldogs just can’t stay out of the headlines! Following Lady Gaga’s harrowing dog-napping ordeal, another dramatic dog fiasco has recently made the news.

Recently, a Bay Area woman was reunited with her French bulldog, Brody, after he had been found 600 miles away…in Tijuana, Mexico.

According to Brody’s owner, Debbie Campbell, she had been frantically searching for her emotional support dog for weeks after he “wandered away” from her front yard on February 3rd.

Immediately after Brody’s disappearance, Campbell and her family launched an intense search party. They posted flyers around town and posted on social media to find her beloved Brody, but no luck. Just when the Campbells thought they would never see Brody again, they received a mysterious message from Mexico.

A man named Benjamin Gonzalez contacted the family on Facebook and told them he had bought Brody a few weeks prior, on the streets of Tijuana.

By an odd twist of fate, Gonzalez had previously lived in the Bay Area himself before being deported to Mexico two years prior. Since he had lived in the Bay Area since he was a baby, his entire family still lived there.

When Gonzalez showed his new dog to his American family, they recognized Brody from social media posts and told him that Brody looked like a local missing dog. They told him to contact Debbie Campbell.

When Gonzalez contacted her, Campbell asked him to send her a picture of Brody’s tattoo for proof. “And the minute he did I knew it was my dog,” Campbell told KGO reporters.

Gonzalez said he can relate to the dog’s situation. Gonzalez told reporters that it made sense that Brody was far from home, because the dog seemed depressed.

“I’m deported myself, and you know I’m out here by myself, so we could relate,” Gonzalez said. “He doesn’t have family here…I don’t have family here, I’m out here by myself, so you know I was like, man, if I can return him I’m going to do the right thing.”

Within 24 hours, Debbie Campbell was reunited with Brody. She was overjoyed to be with her emotional support dog again. Campbell recounted the emotional situation through tears: “When he video called us to show us the dog, that took my breath away,” Campbell said KGO. “It’s a blessing that that man called, because otherwise there’s no way we could have gotten him back.”

According to The San Francisco Chronicle, thieves have been targeting French bulldogs more and more recently due to their popularity.

A police spokesperson referred to them as a French bulldogs are considered “a high-value ticket item.” Dog-nappers can make $1,500 to $6,000 reselling the pups on the black market.

“Frenchies are ‘in’ right now,” San Francisco SPCA president Dr. Jennifer told the Chronicle. “If I had a Frenchie, I wouldn’t let it out of my sight right now.”