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Dog breeder injured while trying to stop thieves
Kimberly Kuizon reports.
VENICE, Fla. - The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office is investigating after a 92-year-old woman said she was beaten by women who stole her dogs.
The bruises on 92-year-old Julia Ballard's arms are just part of the reason why she feels pain today.
Her heart is also broken, after she said three of her dogs were taken earlier this week from her Venice property.
Ballard said she got those bruises as she was trying to put up a fight to get her dogs back.
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"Today, it's hit me worse. I worry about them," Ballard explained.
At 92 years old, Julia Ballard can be considered a fighter. She said the suspect grabbed her because she was trying to stop her from taking her dog, but then the woman kicked her.
The bruises are visible up and down both of Julia's hands.
The backstory:
She said earlier this week a woman went to Ballard's Farm Supply, which she owns, off of Havana Road in Venice.
She said a woman who had been at the business arrived with two other women.
"She asked to buy the one poodle. I told her it wasn’t for sale. I had bought it to breed my chihuahua," Ballard said.
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Despite saying no, Ballard said the women began loading three of her dogs, including the poodle and chihuahua, into their black Lexus SUV.
When she tried to get the dogs back, Ballard said the women turned physical.
"The one woman left a lot of bruises on me," Ballard said. "She kicked me in the stomach because I was trying to take the dog out of her car."
Ballard was taken to the hospital and Sarasota County deputies were called.
"We are glad she is recovering from her injuries and she is back home," said Matt Binkley with the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office.
Dig deeper:
Binkley said deputies are working to track down the three women.
"It's ever evolving. But we have an unlaw touching of a person by another, but we do have a battery. Hopefully, we can put some of this suspect information together and evolve it into an arrest," he said.
Ballard said an employee jotted down the first three letters of the license plate as "W-C-L."
She's now working to deal with not only the physical, but emotional pain of what happened and wondering if her dogs are okay.
"It's a strange world now. People used to not be this way. That they would feel they could just change something they don’t like," she said.
Ballard said she does breed dogs and some are for sale.
She said the last year has been extremely hard on her after her son had a heart attack and she's been left to run most of the family business.
What you can do:
The Sarasota County Sheriff's Office asks anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers of Sarasota County at 941-366-8477.
The Source: Information was gathered by FOX 13's Kimberly Kuizon through first-hand accounts and through the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office.