Family whose canine was stolen outdoors Lidl obtain pic of homeless man with lacking pup

A dog was found more than 200 miles away from its home nearly a year after he was “kidnapped” outside Lidl.

Constantin Munteanu, the father of Lex’s owner, had tied the pooch to a railing while he popped into the store to buy flowers for his wife. But despite reporting the incident to the police, Florentina Munteanu, 43, claimed that the authorities didn’t take the incident in Antwerp, Belgium, seriously.

It led to the sleuthing family taking matters into their own hands and they set up a Facebook page to find Lex.

After hundreds of false leads, they received a photo from a French woman, Chantal Voet, showing a homeless man with a fluffy white dog. Ms Munteanu instantly recognised him as Lex.

She said: “I knew immediately, ‘that is Lex. I immediately contacted the French police and asked them to go there with a chip reader to check the DogID [the Belgian registration service]. The chip number matched.”

Lex was found 300 days after he was taken from outside the supermarket. Speaking to Het Laatste Nieuws newspaper, Ms Munteanu expressed her disappointment with the Belgian police’s response, reports the Mirror.

It was the family’s efforts on social media that led to Lex’s discovery. After French police confiscated Lex and arranged a video call, the pooch “recognised his family immediately”.

Ms Munteanu said Lex “responded enthusiastically”.

The family’s joyous reunion with their pet in Paris was captured on a Facebook video, showing Lex leaping back into their arms. Ms Munteanu shared with VRT: “In a nanosecond he jumped towards us. When I hugged Lex again a thousand emotions went through me. Happiness, relief, sadness. Our homecoming was also wonderful.”

The homeless man claimed to have bought the dog at a Paris market, presenting falsified documents to the police.

Despite being castrated, Lex appeared well-fed and had put on weight. The family is now pushing for tougher laws on pet theft, arguing it should be seen as kidnapping rather than just theft.

Ms Munteanu stressed: “A dog is a living creature. This is not theft but kidnapping.”

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