Footballer Daniel Sturridge ‘delighted’ after being reunited with missing dog in LA
Written by News on 11/07/2019
England footballer Daniel Sturridge has been reunited with his dog after the canine went missing from his Los Angeles house.
Sturridge offered a reward of “20, 30 grand” for the return of his dog” on Tuesday in a plea on social media.
However, on Wednesday evening in an Instagram video he confirmed Lucci, a Pomeranian, had been found.
Sturridge said: “Lucci has officially been brought home.”
“Absolutely delighted – just want to say a big thank you to everyone on social media for supporting us and raising awareness.”
He also shared a video of the animal playing with a soft toy, whilst petting him.
The footballer said he and some friends went to south LA on Tuesday night to pick up the pooch after a tip-off.
Foster Washington, who goes by his rap name Killa Fame, shared photos of the dog on Twitter.
He said his nephew had found Lucci near 8800 South Central Avenue in Los Angeles.
“I took my nephew to the store about 9pm last night,” he said.
“He walked to the store and came back with this gorgeous dog.
“I was like ‘let’s keep it’ and I put it in my car.
“Then a friend of mine walked past and said ‘this dog is famous, it’s the dog from the news … they’re offering 30,000 dollars for it’.”
Mr Washington tweeted Sturridge photos of the dog, asking “is this Lucci?”
He said that the footballer later made contact with him and organised to meet up, and arrived with “around seven” people at 1am.
Mr Washington later shared photos of himself and the footballer, claiming he never received a reward.
Los Angeles Police say they are investigating the incident, but have not confirmed that the dog had been returned, or whether any arrests had been made.
Sturridge is currently without a club after being released by Liverpool this summer.
(c) Sky News 2019: Footballer Daniel Sturridge ‘delighted’ after being reunited with missing dog in LA
