San Francisco tourist robbed of French bulldog service animal

A heartbroken California tourist says his French bulldog service animal was stolen “by fear and by force” during a short stay in crime-ridden San Francisco.

Reid Grotewold and his trusted pup Benjamin were visiting the troubled city last month when the dog was yanked out of his backpack as he waited for a bus, according to KRON4.

“They had a backpack, they had their hands in there gesturing that they had a gun in the backpack,” he told the station Monday.

“Trying to take the dog by fear and by force. Someone came from behind me and took my dog.”

Grotewold, from rural Humboldt County, was only planning to stay in San Fran for a week but has extended his stay while he searches for his beloved Frenchie.

“It’s very hard to go home without Benjamin. I’m not able to do that at the moment. I’m doing everything I can and I won’t be able to rest until I can have put every effort forward that I have,” he said. 

“Benjamin doesn’t leave [my] side. He’s a service animal so he flies with me, drives with me and he doesn’t leave my side, so that’s all he knows,” Grotewold said. 

“I’ve been going nonstop 24 hours a day, very little sleep. Making my rounds. Posting pictures. Using online resources. So the public knows Benjamin has a home and he’s wanted back with his family,” he said. 

French bulldogs are frequently targeted by robbers because they generally cost between $3,000 and $9,000 and can be quickly sold for a profit.

“You might as well put $7,000 on a leash and walk around the street,” James Harrison, who runs the breeding company Ethical Frenchie, told The Post in 2021 after two of Lada Gaga’s Frenchies were nabbed in a robbery that left her dogwalker shot.

The cherished dogs “are an easy target.”

“It’s significantly easier to walk off with someone’s French bulldog than to rob a bank,” said Harrison.

Robberies in San Francisco were up 16% this year compared to 2022, according to police statistics.

Grotewold, who reportedly had not heard any updates from the police, did not immediately respond to an interview request from The Post.

“Please spread the word need to get Benjamin back [in] my arms he’s everything to me any help spreading the word means so very much more than I can express in words !!!!!,” he posted on Facebook early Tuesday.