Remi the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, that was stolen from outside Jamison Plaza, has been reunited with her owner, Mary Williams after five days.
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Ms Williams had tied Remi to a bench outside the plaza at 7pm on Sunday so she could do a quick shop for dog food. When she returned 10 to 15 minutes later Remi was gone.
"When I came out of the shops on Sunday night her lead was there and she was gone," Ms Williams said.
"My first reaction was I hadn't tied her up properly and I half expected her to be home because I don't live very far, but she wasn't."
Sergeant Andrew Mitchell from Belconnen police said not long after Ms Williams had left Remi a dark coloured Range Rover parked nearby and three adults and a child exited the car.
"For a few minutes they played with Remi before one of the females untied Remi and was seen on CCTV picking her up and running back to the vehicle and drove away," Sergeant Mitchell said.
Ms Williams said she spoke to neighbours, people around the plaza and security to see if they knew what happened to Remi.
"I spoke to the security guy at Jamison and he said I should report it to the police and then they could access the CCTV footage."
Police urged anyone with any information about the disappearance of Remi to contact them.
At lunchtime on Friday, Remi was handed to police who then reunited her with Ms Williams.
Ms Williams said she was relieved to have her companion back and the situation felt surreal.
"I live by myself and I do have a cat and I've been retired for a few years and she's my companion.
"I honestly didn't expect to get her back because so much time had gone by...it's beyond my wildest dreams that I would get her back.
"She's mostly my family these days."
Both Sergeant Mitchell and Ms Williams thanked the public for their support.
"I'd like to take the opportunity now to put out a big thank you to the ACT community," Sergeant Mitchell said.
"I have no doubt that it's the response that we got from the media's interest that's been a big contributing factor in Remi being returned."
"The Canberra community, got out there and got behind it. It's just amazing to think that anyone would do that," Ms Williams said.
It's understood police have identified the women, but an investigation is ongoing.
"There is an offence that has been committed, a theft offence carries a maximum penalty 10 years' imprisonment or a fine or both in the ACT," Sergeant Mitchell said.
