Police: 4 show dogs missing after van stolen in Oregon

PORTLAND — Four show dogs are missing after their owners’ van was stolen Saturday morning from a hotel parking lot in Portland, police said.

Someone jumped in and took the van while it was briefly left running, taking off with four terriers in crates inside, the Portland Police Bureau said. Two of terriers were 6-month-old puppies.

The owners were visiting from the Seattle area for the Rose City Classic Winter Dog Show at the Portland Expo Center, police said. They’re looking for a dark blue 2022 Mercedes-Benz Metris cargo van with tinted windows on the sides and rear hatch. It has no license plates, but a temporary tag in the rear window.

Vandra Huber, of Woodinville, Washington, who owns the vehicle and two of the dogs, told The Oregonian/OregonLive that she and her co-breeder, Cheryl James, of Redmond, Washington, were preparing to go to the dog show when the van was taken.

The owner of the other dogs, Ed Cook, had left the van running in front of the Oxford Suites hotel while he stepped inside to tell them it was time to leave. “In that little bit of time he left the keys in the car, someone came and stole the van,” Huber said.

The van’s tracker was turned on by midday Saturday, but no one had located the vehicle, Huber said. The dog breeders are considering offering a reward for the van.

“I don’t know what we can do, but I want my dogs back,” Huber said.

One of the dogs was supposed to go to a new home when the show was over.

“It was going to go to a little boy and girl,” Huber said. “That’s really making us sad.”