WASHINGTON — A D.C. pet owner is recovering from her injuries after she says she was attacked and her dog was stolen at gunpoint near the Fort Totten Metro station in Northeast.
Zaleena Ahmed says the incident happened Saturday around 10 p.m. on Galloway Street Northeast as she was walking her West Highland White Terrier named Max.
Ahmed says a man in a mask and hoodie approached her, but she was unable to understand what he was saying. He then proceeded to snatch her dog's leash and started pulling. As she pulled back, she says Max's harness came off and when she attempted to pick him up, the man hit her on the right-hand side of her forehead with the gun.
"So now I am screaming help, help, help," Ahmed told WUSA9 outside her Northeast apartment. She says that as she was asking for help, a dark colored van or SUV pulled up and the driver asked if everything was okay. "I am like no this guy is trying to rob me. So I start walking around the vehicle to the driver's side and I see that guy also has a mask on and a hood. So I realized that they are in it together."
Ahmed says the man with the gun instructed the driver of the van to take Max who was in her arm. He snatched the dog and they both took off with the dog that will turn 14 on Oct. 31.
The concerned dog owner says physically she is fine. She received stitches on her forehead and hurt her hand attempting to open the van door to save Max.
She is however concerned for Max's declining health. He recently had his teeth removed, he is on a liver supplement, and his vision has started failing.
"We survived so much together," Ahmed said as she described her close bond with her emotional support animal. She says that it is not the first time she is separated from Max. In 2018 they were reunited after he was ejected during a car crash that took her mother's life.
"He just provides that additional support that I don't have from my mom anymore, and so I just like need him. I mean, I have been kind of preparing with him being older, but not in this way. I just want my sidekick back."
Ahmed is pleading for the men that stole her dog to drop him off at any shelter no questions asked.
DC Police says they are investigating the incident.