The five-week-old puppies were taken from a fenced yard, and their owner later found what she believes was an online sale listing.
SPARTA, TN — A White County woman is searching for 10 five-week-old Borzoi puppies she says were stolen from a fenced yard in the Quebeck area and later offered for sale online, leaving investigators trying to identify who took the young dogs and where they went.
Sandra Moore-Doby said the litter disappeared during the early morning hours of Oct. 20 while the puppies were outside with their mother. Local reports place the disappearance between roughly 6 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. The puppies were still nursing, had not been vaccinated and were too young to be separated from their mother, according to Moore-Doby.
Moore-Doby told WSMV that she had put the puppies outside around 5:30 a.m. so they could exercise and spend time with their mother, Emira. She went back inside and returned about an hour later with food. The puppies were gone. Moore-Doby said she first considered whether they had escaped but determined that the pen’s gate could not have been opened by the puppies themselves.
The mother dog remained at the property but returned with an injury to her face, Moore-Doby said. She believes Emira may have followed whoever removed the puppies. The circumstances led Moore-Doby to report the disappearance to law enforcement rather than treat it as a case of dogs wandering away from home.
The search took another turn after Moore-Doby said she found a Craigslist advertisement that appeared to offer her puppies for sale. She told WSMV that police were working to obtain information connected to the account behind the listing. Authorities had not publicly identified a suspect in the latest reports reviewed, and it was not immediately clear whether any of the puppies had already been sold.
Moore-Doby later posted her own Craigslist notices seeking people who may have bought a young puppy in the Cookeville area without knowing it had allegedly been stolen. In the posts, she said the puppies were still nursing and were not old enough to receive their vaccinations. She offered to buy the animals back from anyone who had unknowingly purchased one.
The puppies’ age has added urgency to the search. Moore-Doby said she normally keeps young dogs for several months before placing them in permanent homes. At five weeks old, the missing Borzois had not been fully weaned from their mother, and she expressed concern about their health if they were not being properly fed and cared for.
News of the missing litter spread through local media and online animal communities. A fundraiser organized in support of Moore-Doby said money collected could be used for a reward or to help buy back puppies if they were located. Other posts circulated photographs and descriptions of the litter in an effort to identify animals that may have changed hands after the reported theft.
Reports about the exact date initially differed, with some early coverage referring to Oct. 19. Later local reporting, Moore-Doby’s missing-dog listing and other notices placed the disappearance on the morning of Oct. 20. The central details have remained consistent: all 10 puppies disappeared from a fenced area, their mother was left behind, and Moore-Doby later found what she believes was an advertisement connected to the missing litter.
The White County Sheriff’s Office is investigating, according to Moore-Doby and local reports. The latest verified public coverage reviewed did not report that the 10 puppies had been recovered, and no arrest or criminal charge had been announced in connection with their disappearance.
Author note: Last updated October 25, 2026.