SUGAR LAND -- Melissa Matsu had a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach when she came home last Friday and discovered she'd been burglarized. Things went from bad to worse when she realized her precious poodle was missing.

Matsu said Leeloo and her other dog Bridgette stayed in her gated kitchen during the day. Bridgette was still there when she got home, but Leeloo was gone.

Matsu said the poodle couldn't possibly have gotten out of the locked gate on her own.

A neighbor's surveillance camera shows the burglars driving up to the Sugar Land home on Cobblestone Point Drive just before 9 a.m.

Along with the dog, they took jewelry, computers, cameras and credit cards. The credit cards were used in Houston around 10:30 a.m. Friday.

Matsu says she can replace the other things. She just wants her dog back and is offering a cash reward, no questions asked.

MELISSA MATSU

Leeloo is described as "energetic and friendly to everyone."

"My husband and I have been married 12 years next month and we haven't been able to have kids, so our pets are everything to us," said Matsu. The HISD teacher even keeps pictures of her dogs in her classroom. Both dogs were adopted from Citizens for Animal Protection (CAP).

“She's our child, she's our kid,” said Matsu, who says she has thus far been bale to have children of her own, so Leeloo is her surrogate child.

Sadly the Houston Humane Society says dognapping is up. The Humane Society doesn’t keep actual hard statistics on the number of stolen dogs, but they do notice a lot more questionable online pet ads.

The agency’s spokeswoman Melanie Rushe said people should be careful.

“(You see in the ads) no set price, no set contact information, questionable breed, questionable reason for release,” she said.

Just like cars, thieves have favorite targets for dogs, Chihuahuas, poodles, or terriers, because they are small and cute. The so-called accessory dogs fetch a nice dollar on the streets.   

The other hot target? Fighting dogs like pit bulls or the high-end breed dogs.

On Monday, Crimestoppers released a new image of the thief who stuffed an expensive English bulldog under his jacket and walked out of a pet store.

There are also resources for dog owners who are victims of a crime can use beyond posting posters in the neighborhood.

Owners often list their missing and stolen pets online. Dogdetective.com is a popular Web site and notes the number one city for its postings: Houston.

In the case of Leeloo, her owners are keeping busy posting the dog’s picture everywhere. The poster images of what experts say is a growing problem.