CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Kenneth Penna's dog Lucy is a spirited girl, but her red hair is only part of how she got her name.
"That, and her attitude," he said.
Penna said Lucy has been his constant companion since he adopted her a year ago from a previous owner whom he said could no longer care for the one-and-a-half-year-old chihuahua mix.
When he goes to work, he asks family to look in on Lucy, and when no one's available, he pays someone.
"I don't go anywhere without her," he said.
He said she loves to go for rides in his white pickup truck, and he was even getting her used to riding his motorcycle.
"She's the (queen) of the roost around around here," he said.
So when Lucy broke away from him last Wednesday night, Penna walked the neighborhood looking for her.
When he didn't find her, he went home to see if she'd come back.
"She wasn't there," he said.
She said he walked and drove around his neighborhood near Violet Road and Leopard until about 1 a.m.
Soon after, he received a video in which a person is hitting a dog he said is Lucy.
"Early Thursday morning, I got a message saying that someone had my dog and wanted some money," he said.
The messages demanded a ransom of $250 to return her.
Corpus Christi Police Department officers said a theft report has been filed related to the case.
Corpus Christi Animal Care Services also have opened a separate investigation for cruelty to a non-livestock animal because tape can be seen around the dog's mouth, and the dog in the video is being hit.
When asked how he felt seeing the video, Penna said only one word: "Sick."
He has appealed to Facebook friends to help him get her back Sunday, but told 3NEWS all communication stopped from the person allegedly ransoming Lucy on Saturday.
He said "money is not an issue" when it comes to getting Lucy back, but that he has no idea why someone would take her and ransom her.
"I'm at a loss," he said. "I just have no clue. I don't owe nobody money, I don't owe nobody anything."
