There is a happy ending for a Bridgeport family now that police say their stolen dog was safely returned.

Bridgeport police say the dog was stolen from the front yard of the family's home on Waterview Avenue on Father's Day.

Christine Baptiste Perez says she got a call Tuesday from a woman who claimed to have found 2-year-old Maltese Willie on the street, then later dropped him off at her home, no questions asked, as promised.

Police Chief Roderick Porter says the dog was shaved, indicating that the person who took the dog was trying to disguise its appearance. He says these kinds of pets are often the target of "snatch-and-grab thefts."

"Small dogs are easily, you know, able to be grabbed up and scooped away and concealed," said Porter.

Bridgeport Animal Control was able to confirm Willie's identity by scanning the chip in his neck.