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Thieves steal 20,000 pounds of dog food

ATLANTA — Thieves broke into a warehouse belonging to a popular southeast Atlanta pet supply store and stole 20,000 pounds of dog food.

Owners of the Intown Healthy Hound, at the corner of Atlanta and Cherokee avenues, estimate the loss at $35,000 and worry the financial blow could force them out of business.

"They chose to do it by hand instead of just rolling pallets right into, say, a tractor-trailer," said Intown Healthy Hound owner James Galloway. "That would've been easier to roll bags in with wheels instead of touching 100 bags at a time. They took over 800 bags and 20-pound bags."

Customers and friends stopped by the Grant Park shop all day to ask if there was anything they could do to help. Galloway said many have brought by food or made offers to help.

Atlanta police said they are looking for the criminals, but despite a lot of neighborhood rumors, no one really knows why they wanted to steal so much dog food.

Galloway doesn't think his insurance will cover the loss of dog food stored in his offsite warehouse. He vows to do everything he can to keep his business up and running.

"It's kind of like getting kicked in the stomach, you know?" said Galloway. "You can't stay down after being kicked in the stomach all day."