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Family Of Missing Pooch Allegedly Lost By Groomer Still Hope For His Return

NORCO (CBSLA.com) — The owners of a dog missing for nearly a week are still hopeful he will return home safe.

The Baerga family took Bodie -- a black and white toy poodle -- to Doggy Paws in Norco last Thursday along with their other dog QTip.

When they went to retrieve their dogs, the owner said Bodie vanished.

"I'm used to seeing Bodie at my feet all the time and he's not there," says Andrea Baerga.

She says the loss has been devastating for her family. "My son and I pray every night that he's okay."

Security camera video from a neighboring store shows a black dog running out the back door of Doggy Paws the day Bodie disappeared.

But Baerga told CBS2's Adrianna Weingold, the dog on the tape isn't Bodie.

Guy Guillen a groomer at Doggy Paws and the business' co-owner, said his partner was working the day Bodie disappeared.

"In this instance it happened that the dog disappeared. There's nothing that happened to the dog. No harm came to the dog. There's no way that would happen, that's just not what we do," says Guillen.

He believes Bodie got out of crate, that was broken, and somehow sneaked out the front door. Customers told Weingold the front door is often open.

Guillen acknowledges his business partner should have notified the Baerga's as soon as Bodie went missing.

Baerga fears the worst. "Maybe they did something at the salon. I don't know if maybe they tried to give him something to sedate him and maybe something bad happened."

The store insists nothing bad happened to the dog but they don't know where he is.

Friends of the Baergas are helping out: they created a Facebook page, they are also putting up flyers all over.

Weingold reports that one company is offering free Angels tickets to anyone who finds the dog and returns him safe and sound.

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