Woman rescues stranger’s stolen dog by chasing thief barefoot for 30 minutes

A stolen dog has been returned to his owners after a stranger heroically chased a suspected thief down the street for 30 minutes, barefoot.

After recognising the pup from a Facebook appeal, Alyssa Sanderford, from Texas, confronted a man in his 20s — who promptly legged it.

But the 34-year-old, a triathlon runner, wasn’t phased, dropping her flip-flops and pursuing him until he gave up.

“I probably didn’t do the smartest thing. I just walked up to him and said, ‘That dog’s stolen. You need to give it back.’”, she told the Dallas Observer.

“He was like, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ I said, ‘You took that dog last night at Trader Joe’s. Give me the leash.’

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“I tried to reach for it. He got pretty angry. I grabbed the leash, and he jerked it out of my hands,” she said.

She had seen an appeal the night before on Facebook, after it was shared by a friend.

Wiley, a six-year-old, 95-pound chocolate Labrador/Chesapeake mix, had disappeared the day before from outside a shop.

Wiley’s owners, Angela Ream and her husband, Sterling Ream, both 32, spent 24 hours walking door-to-door trying to find him — with no luck.

But then Sanderford, who doesn’t know the family, spotted the dog following day, recognising his distinctive orange collar.

After boldly challenging the man, and giving chase, she was joined along the way by various other good samaritans — one of which gave her a lift in an SUV.

Eventually, he gave up and let them have Wiley, who was returned to his owners — who, it’s fair to say, were delighted to get him back.

“I don’t even know this girl, and she risked so much to bring our dog home to us,” Angela Ream said. “It’s an unbelievable story. It sounds a little silly, but it restores your faith in humanity. For the one bad guy who had her, there were so many people who reached out and cared.”

Police arrived at the scene shortly after, but didn’t not arrest the man, who told officers he had found the dog.

Ream added: “My dad was like, ‘Are you going to press charges?’ I said, ‘No!’ To be honest, I am kind of praying for that guy. I don’t know his motives.

“If he’s just lonely and wanted a companion, I hope he finds one, his own. If he really needed money that badly, you have to be really desperate to steal a dog.”