A woman has been captured on CCTV grabbing a "stray" dog by the scruff of the neck and chucking it into a car.
The shocking incident was captured on cameras at the Hope Animal Shelter near Middlesbrough where staff are now trying to trace the dog's whereabouts after the "theft".
The footage shows a woman open a rear passenger door of a car with the small dog running towards it.
The pooch then walks off in the opposite direction before the woman approaches her from behind and picks her up by the scruff of her neck.
She then dumps the poor animal in the car before closing the door.
Workers at the shelter in the Loftus aread say that the female dog, named Lola, was brought into the shelter as a stray.
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They say that a woman entered the shelter's property on April 15 and, after a "commotion" lifted the dog from a fenced-off area and drove off with it, reports Teeside Live .
Staff trying to trace the dog posted the video Facebook on Monday and some have recognising the woman.
Cliff Spedding, who runs the shelter, said Lola was brought in as a stray weeks before she was taken away.
"After scanning her we found out she belonged to someone in Skinningrove ",
Cliff, 59, said: "I took the dog in and then found out that the owner had given the dog to the family of the woman.
"The microchip paperwork had not been changed over though."
As Lola was a small dog, she was kept in a fenced area that was attached to the shelter.
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Cliff was indoors when he heard a "commotion" outside, he looked out the window and saw the woman standing there.
But by the time he got outside, she'd gone - along with the pup.
"It's sort of theft", Cliff said.
"She shouldn't have been on the property and at the end of the day should have just rang us up.
"Instead she just took the dog herself and we don't know where it's gone.
"The dog didn't really want to go with her."
The video, which was posted online, has been shared over 300 times, with over 150 comments so far.
