Kirkland dog allegedly stolen by man's date

Name: Kirkland man searching for dog allegedly stolen by date
Uploaded: 2025-04-01T22:55:10-07:00
Description: A man in Kirkland says he's beside himself with worry about getting his dog back after his best friend and emotional support animal was taken without warning, allegedly by a man he befriended on a dating app.

Kirkland man searching for dog allegedly stolen by date

A man in Kirkland says he's beside himself with worry about getting his dog back after his best friend and emotional support animal was taken without warning, allegedly by a man he befriended on a dating app.

KIRKLAND, Wash. - A Kirkland man is pleading for help finding his dog named Sparkey.

He says security cameras captured a man walking away with his pet in early March.

He says he'd just befriended the man on a dating app, and had no idea he would end up taking his dog without warning.

The backstory:

Sparkey is the pup that put the spark into Francisco Martinez Crisanto's life.

"Mousey is Sparkey’s favorite companion," said Francisco Martinez Crisanto, Sparkey’s owner, showing off the dog's stuffed animal, pictured below.

He loved his stuffed animal, Mousey, and was best friends with his cat, Kepler.

Francisco says he got Sparkey from a friend who was fostering him.

"I looked at him, and I was like, why not, I’ll take you, and we ended up building a bond," he said.

As a burn survivor who lost a family member to fire when he was younger, Francisco said Sparkey was also his emotional support during tough times.

So, when a man he'd just met on a dating app was seen on security video walking out with Sparkey in early March, Francisco's heart was broken.

"I think Sparkey saved my life, and I’m going to cry. You know he’s been through a lot, and I’ve been through a lot, so you know we have that bond."

Francisco said the man who took his dog came over to hang out after the two met on a dating app. He offered a guest bedroom to him when the man told him that he'd missed the bus.

"I’m like 'Oh, this person seems harmless," said Francisco.

He says the man walked into his bedroom at around 4:30 a.m., asking if he wanted coffee from the gas station across the street.

"I had no idea he was packing his bags to ditch out and took my dog with him," said Francisco.

After waking up later that morning, he realized both the man and Sparkey were gone.

"Around like 9 a.m. that’s when it hit me, he stole my dog, he took Sparkey," he said.

Security video showed the animal's little face sticking out from the man's arms.

"Now it’s just different without Sparkey," he said.

It's now too quiet in the house with everyone, including Kepler the cat, missing him.

"She was going onto his pen for a few days, I think, because she noticed something was wrong, and she misses him," said Francisco.

He hopes that someone will help bring Sparkey home.

"I always promised him that I was always going to take care of him," he said, holding back tears.

Sparkey is microchipped, and Franciso hopes that if he's taken to a vet or a clinic, they will reach out to him.

FOX 13 has been reaching out to Kirkland police since around March 17 to ask if they are investigating the case and if they are calling the man a suspect. We are waiting to hear back.