LOS ANGELES - Lady Gaga issued an emotional plea on Instagram Friday, asking for the safe return of her beloved French bulldogs and offering a $500,000 reward for their return.
"My beloved dogs Koji and Gustav were taken in Hollywood two nights ago," the pop star wrote. "My heart is sick and I am praying my family will be whole again with an act of kindness. I will pay $500,000 for their safe return."
Gaga said that the reward will apply to anyone who may have unknowingly bought them or found them.
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The singer's 30-year-old dog walker, Ryan Fischer, was shot in Hollywood while walking Gaga's French bulldogs just before 10 p.m. Wednesday night in the 1500 block of North Sierra Bonita Avenue, near Sunset Boulevard.
Fischer was walking three of Gaga's dogs at the time, and the attackers made off with two of them, named Koji and Gustav. A third dog, a black French bulldog named Miss Asia, was recovered.
Credit: Lady Gaga, Instagram
Fischer was transported to the hospital in critical condition, he is expected to survive. The Los Angeles Police Department says he was shot twice, once in the back and once in the neck.
"I continue to love you Ryan Fischer, you risked your life to fight for our family," wrote Gaga. "You’re forever a hero."
Authorities are working to determine whether or not Fischer was targeted in order to hold Gaga's dogs for ransom, TMZ reported Friday.
Surveillance video first obtained by TMZ, in which a similar version was later obtained by FOX 11, appears to support that theory.
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Surveillance video captures the moment Lady Gaga’s dogs stolen, walker shot in Los Angeles
Surveillance video captured the moment the dog walker was shot and two of Lady Gaga's French bulldogs were dognapped in West Hollywood.
The video shows the vehicle come up upon Gaga's dog walker, Ryan Fischer, with no other potential victims in sight. The car stops and two people immediately jump out of the vehicle and attack Fischer.
"There's no way they would have instantly known these dogs were a valuable breed ... they're small and it was dark outside. The dogs could have easily been rescues, mixed breeds, a less valuable breed ... fact is, these criminals knew," reported the publication.
Law enforcement sources also told TMZ that Fischer told numerous people in the neighborhood he was walking Gaga's dogs, which also supports the idea that he may have been targeted.
The suspect’s vehicle is said to be a white Nissan Altima with tinted windows. Police described the two suspects as men about 20 to 25-years-old, one with blonde dreadlocks, wearing a black hoodie and carrying a semi-automatic handgun. The other was dressed in dark clothing.
Tips can be emailed to kojiandgustav@gmail.com. Anyone with information is urged to contact the Los Angeles Police Department.
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