Disabled Florida dog stolen in car found: 'Zorra is gone, she is dead'

(Wanda Ferrari)

A disabled dog resting inside a car that was stolen in Florida last week — prompting the dog's desperate owner to plead for her return — has been found dead, a rescue group said.

Zorra, a 13-year-old Husky-Shepherd mix with paralyzed back legs, was found dead Monday, 100+ Abandoned Dogs of Everglades Florida posted online. The car the dog was stolen in reportedly was found Monday in a pond in Lauderdale Lakes.

"Zorra is gone, she is dead," Amy Roman, the founder of the group, said in a Facebook video. "I hope that they find this piece of s--- and he pays for what he did."

The Broward County Sheriff's Office said in a statement that "the investigation into the auto theft and death of the canine continues."

"Monday night, BSO Regional Communications received a call from a towing company regarding a blue 2005 Volvo that had previously been reported stolen," the statement said. "BSO deputies responded to the towing company and confirmed the car was stolen and confirmed a canine was found deceased in the car. Investigators are awaiting the results of a necropsy. No arrests have been made at this time."

The dog's owner, Wanda Ferrari, had left Zorra in an air-conditioned 2005 blue Volvo station wagon on Thursday while she ran into a Dollar Tree in Oakland Park. The dog, who typically used a pink wheelchair to get around, was lying on a pillow in the backseat, not in her wheelchair.

When Ferrari returned to her car, it was gone — and so was Zorra.

"I was in shock. And you know, the shock wore off," Ferrari told WFMY-TV. "And then, I was traumatized, and in tears, because my girl was in the back, you know. I'm like, 'Who would do that? Who would take a car with a dog?' They probably didn't know."

Rescue groups immediately pleaded for the dog's return. A pet detective was hired, and a $3,000 reward offered.

"All we care about is that somebody — anybody with compassion, that has children, that has a family, even the person that took the car — tell us, give us anything," Ferrari said to WTVJ on Monday, before Zorra's remains were found. "I don't care how you give us a clue; I don't care. Tell us where to find that dog."

Ferrari said the dog was her constant companion as she deals with a breast cancer recurrence.

Fox News' Morgan Phillips and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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