Sharon Dooling’s two dogs, Carly, a Chihuahua, and Silas, a Newfoundland, were playing in her backyard one Saturday night. That’s how the pups vs. dognappers story beings.

The dogs had only been outside a few moments when Sharon heard Carly barking like mad. She opened the door, expecting to find the pup barking at nothing, but then she saw something very disturbing.

She saw a stranger dragging Silas out of the yard. Like Carly, Sharon went into protective mode. She asked the man what he was doing. He brazenly replied that he was taking his dog. Sharon’s response is the kind of response that would make people stand up and cheer.

“You never know what you’re going to do in a situation. A lot of people say I would have done this or I would have done that, but you don’t really know what you’re going to do in a particular situation until it actually happens.”