A GANG threatened a Wan Chai pet shop's staff with a toy gun and stole eight pedigree puppies worth a total of $73,740, the High Court heard yesterday. Some of the dogs were sold to other shops within hours and three could not be traced, the court was told. Two members of the gang, Lo Ping-leung, 25, and Lee Wai-kwong, who turned 25 yesterday, pleaded guilty to a joint charge of robbery and Lo also admitted a charge of possession of an imitation firearm. They are expected to be sentenced by Deputy Judge Cheung on Monday. Prosecutor Mary Sin told the court that Lo, Lee and a third man entered the President Pet Shop in Lockhart Road at about 6.30 pm on June 23 last year. She said Lo asked a salesman the price of a boxer puppy and was told that the shop did not have one but that it could be ordered for $9,500. He then asked to use the telephone and after Lee kicked away a stool, Lo declared robbery, Ms Sin said. They threatened the three staff members with a toy pistol, tied one of them up with a leather dog leash before taking $400 from the cash register and a gold chain, the court heard. They removed eight puppies - two schnauzers, a maltese, a poodle, a pomeranian, a chow and two golden retrievers - from their cages and left, Ms Sin said. Half an hour later, the three men took the dogs to Asia Pet Shop in Tung Lo Wan Road and sold one of the golden retrievers for $2,000. On the following day, Lo and another man returned to Asia Pet Shop with a chow puppy and asked a staff to take care of it for a few days, Ms Sin said. Later that afternoon, police arrived at the shop and asked a staff member to page Lo to tell him that she wanted to buy a poodle. He was arrested when he arrived half an hour later with the dog. Lee was subsequently arrested and of the eight stolen puppies, five were recovered. Counsel for the pair, William Lee, said in mitigation the robbery was done in a very clumsy and amateurish manner.
