It is not a pleasant experience to find your car with the window smashed in and a radio missing, but one can always find comfort in insurance coverage. This was not the case for Lauren Talit from Yavneh. She parked her car for a moment nearby her house and when she came back the window was broken. Her two dogs were waiting in the car and the cages in the back still contained her rabbits, guinea pigs and chinchillas. The thief only took Kaya, a one-year-old, female Chinese Pug. An eyewitness saw someone carrying the dog running to a waiting car. A complaint was filed with the police.

Lauren Talit, an animal-assisted therapist, was working that day with children suffering from cerebral palsy. "The dogs help them express feelings, and playing with them also aids motor development." Kaya was a favorite with disabled children and elderly people, thanks to her unique appearance and her playful nature. "She loves playing and accepts everyone as they are. Her positive spirit is contagious."

Two weeks have gone by since the theft. The emotionally-challenged children Talit works with have promised to pray for Kaya's return. "They are very attached to her," she says. "I told them what happened and they repeat the story word for word. It is very hard for me to hear it again and again. My heart aches each time. I can't stop thinking about where she is and how she's feeling. The worry kept me up all of last night."

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The thief was obviously familiar with the market value for a dog of Kaya's breed, although the price for such an animal without a pedigree chart is lower. He could sell her without telling the buyer that she was stolen, but the truth is bound to come out when a veterinarian examines her electronic chip. Since April 2005 all dog owners are required to tag their pets with the chip and the Agriculture Ministry's chip listing office (Tel: 03-9681610) has already listed more than 200,000 dogs. The law was passed in order to keep track of dogs of dangerous canine breeds, but it has also helped find many lost dogs.

To increase the odds of finding Kaya, Talit registered with Shvav.net, a Web site which sends information about the missing dog, including its picture, to about 850 veterinarians and animal nonprofit organizations. The service costs NIS 480 and includes an ad in the Petnet portal. Zara Ben-Ari, the Web site's content manager, says that during the last two weeks they have received reports of a stolen Pekingese, a Yorkshire-Terrier and another Pug from a kibbutz. "It is easier to steal small dogs," she says. "They are not threatening, and you can hide them under your coat and go."

It appears that pedigree dogs must be carefully guarded. "You can't leave the dog alone even for a brief moment, not in the street, and not at the park," warns Maya Shtribo, a French Bulldog training coordinator in the Israel Kennel Club's small dogs department. "Just like you don't leave a baby alone, you shouldn't leave a dog in the garden and go answer the phone inside the house." And there's more: "Never tie a dog at the supermarket entrance, never allow a small child to walk the dog because it can be taken away from him and, most importantly, never leave a dog alone in the car - it can either be stolen or die from heatstroke."

Sometimes money can solve the problem and retrieve the dog. It has happened before that the thief asked for a ransom. On other occasions people who find stolen or lost dogs try to make a little money from the dog owners' distress. Ben-Ari relates, "Once, a veterinarian, who had lost her sick dog, registered on our Web site. An hour later someone called and asked for NIS 1,500. She paid without giving it a second thought - she just wanted her dog back."

Sometimes even a ransom does not help. Yael Burstein from the S.O.S Pets nonprofit organization tells us about a Siberian Husky that was stolen while pregnant. "The thief called and asked for a ransom, but then someone, perhaps his wife, yelled in the background, 'I won't give it back no matter what,' and the call was cut off. They probably figured out that the pregnancy was the result of controlled breeding and that the puppies could be sold for a large sum."

People whose dogs have gone missing will usually assume they have been stolen. If the dog is big or of one of the breeds considered dangerous, they may suspect that it has come into the hands of criminals who organize dog-fights. Some owners hire private investigators. In most cases though, the dog is simply lost. Owners are advised to look for it in municipal kennels and the lost and found section of S.O.S Pets (Tel.: 03-7441010).

Lauren Talit is offering a financial reward to anyone that can lead to finding Kaya. She stresses that she is not interested in the informant's identity. "The only thing I care about is having her back home. Everyone is worried about her."