Accused dog thief says he's wrongly charged

Toronto Sun ^ | February 14, 2011 | DAN ILIKA

[Immerito]

A Toronto man says he’s having a dog of a time trying to figure out why police charged him in an alleged canine theft case in the city’s east end.

Sean Dunkley showed up at the Sun newsroom Monday to tell his side of the story after the dogknapping case he’s charged in connection with was featured on the front page of Monday’s Toronto Sun.

“Do you think this is a joke — some kind of sick joke this guy is playing on me?” Dunkley asked. “Now I’ve got (the story) on the front page of the Sun and people think I’m a dogknapper.”

The incident centres around the weekend disappearance and subsequent return of a Toronto senior’s dog.

John Hildon, 84, said he was taking Goldie, his eight-year old Bichon Frise, for a walk at around 8:15 p.m. Friday.

Hildon said he let go of Goldie’s leash when they approached the intersection of Victoria Park Ave. and Ellesmere Rd. as there was a large crowd of people waiting to board a bus.

“This guy...looked down (at the dog) and said, ‘Who’s dog is this?’ and I said, ‘I don’t know,’ jokingly. So, this guy grabs the dog,” Hildon said Sunday.

Dunkley admitted to being the guy who grabbed the dog and corroborated Hildon’s story about asking who Goldie belonged to.

“I see a dog walking down the street; its got a long blue leash and there’s an old man behind the dog,” Dunkley said. “I go, ‘Is this your dog?’ and he goes, ‘No,’ and then he just walks off and leaves me with the dog.”

Dunkley said the man continued to walk and left Goldie with Dunkley, so he boarded his bus home with the dog in tow.

[Emperor Palpatine]

Anyone tried to do that to me when I was with MY dog and they’d soon get acute lead poisoning.

[Emperor Palpatine]

What do you expect from Quebecois?

[Emperor Palpatine]

He may be just a senile old coot, too.