Woman Caught on Camera Stealing 12-Year-Old French Bulldog, Owner Says His Son, 5, Is Heartbroken: 'What Do You Mean He's Gone?'

A beloved French bulldog named Domino was snatched from his yard by a masked woman in California — and the brazen theft was caught on camera.

The incident happened in North Hollywood on Tuesday, Dec. 10, at around 7:43 p.m. local time, according to the timestamp on owner Jason Bitonio’s Ring camera.

“I found out by looking through the [Ring cam] footage,” Bitonio told local news outlet ABC 7. “[Because] I thought somehow the gate was open and he got out, and then I was horrified when I saw that someone had actually trespassed on our property and took him.”

The video shows a woman in an oversized gray sweatshirt, a black baseball hat and a black mask calmly entering the family’s yard, picking up the 12-year-old dog and walking out with him.

Bitonio told ABC 7 that the hardest part of the ordeal so far has been attempting to explain the crime to his 5-year-old son, who has never known life without Domino.

“I just told him, ‘You know, Domino’s gone. Some bad people came and they took him, and we may never see him again,’ ” he explained, adding, “Tears came down. He’s like, ‘What do you mean he’s gone? What do you mean he’s not coming back?’ “

Bitonio noted that he and his family are especially concerned because Domino requires special medication. “It’s the holidays. Our dog is 12 years old — pretty good for a bulldog. This may have been his last Christmas,” he said with tears in his eyes.

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In an additional statement to NBC Los Angeles, Bitonio said that his family has had Domino since he was just 8 weeks old, sharing, “So he’s been with us for a long time and [been] a part of our family forever.”

In terms of suspects, Bitonio revealed to NBC Los Angeles that he noticed a woman seemingly staking out his home a mere 20 minutes before Domino was stolen.

He continues to hold out hope of recovering Domino.

“I want to find Domino. And I don’t want this to happen to anyone else,” he told ABC 7, noting that Domino is “all white. He has a  black mask — a little lopsided — black ears and one distinct tear-shaped black mark on his left side.”

French bulldogs are currently the most popular breed in America, and Frenchie puppies can sell for high prices — which unfortunately has put them at heightened risk of theft in recent years, per The New York Times.