{"id":312352,"date":"2026-10-23T01:18:08","date_gmt":"2026-10-23T01:18:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/312352\/"},"modified":"2026-10-23T01:18:08","modified_gmt":"2026-10-23T01:18:08","slug":"companion-dog-taken-outside-corner-store-north-philadelphia-family-pleads-for-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/312352\/","title":{"rendered":"Companion dog taken outside corner store; North Philadelphia family pleads for help"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/x6itrsaw6izr94zj.jpg\" alt=\"North Philadelphia family searching for stolen companion dog\" class=\"sr-only\" data-v-892ef6a8=\"\"\/>    <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/x6itrsaw6izr94zj.jpg\" alt=\"North Philadelphia family searching for stolen companion dog\" loading=\"eager\" fetchpriority=\"high\" class=\"vod-poster-image vod-poster-image--embedded\" data-v-fab1b86c=\"\"\/>     <\/p>\n<p data-v-2c6143fb=\"\">PHILADELPHIA &#8211; A North Philadelphia mother is pleading for help after her disabled son&#8217;s dog, Kodi, was stolen outside a local corner store Sunday, according to family and surveillance footage. Jamal Newman, 47, who has cerebral palsy and cannot walk, has relied on Kodi for companionship for three years.<\/p>\n<p>   Family pleads for return of stolen Shih Tzu <\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"WTXF\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-2c6143fb=\"\">What we know:<\/p>\n<p data-v-2c6143fb=\"\">Kodi, a small, scruffy Shih Tzu, was tied outside a corner store in North Philadelphia when a woman untied him and walked away, according to surveillance video. Jamal Newman&#8217;s mother, Diane Newman, said Kodi has been missing since Sunday and the family has been searching extensively, posting on social media and lost pet websites.<\/p>\n<p data-v-2c6143fb=\"\">Diane said, &#8220;Kodi became our family whatever Kodi wants he gets.&#8221; She added that Jamal, who is 47 and has few friends, relies on Kodi for comfort and support.<\/p>\n<p data-v-2c6143fb=\"\">Jamal is 47 years old and has lived with cerebral palsy since childhood. Kodi has been with the family for three and a half years, according to Diane.<\/p>\n<p data-v-2c6143fb=\"\">Diane said she is willing to meet anyone, no questions asked, to get Kodi back, and reminded people that Kodi is microchipped.<\/p>\n<p> Community hopes and efforts to find Kodi <\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"WTXF\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-2c6143fb=\"\">What they&#8217;re saying:<\/p>\n<p data-v-2c6143fb=\"\">&#8220;It\u2019s emotional, it\u2019s emotional. He\u2019s aware and he\u2019s dealing with it,&#8221; said Diane Newman. &#8220;Every time I go in and out of his room he be like &#8216;mom have you found my dog yet?&#8217; I\u2019m like &#8220;son I\u2019m still looking for the dog.&#8221;&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-v-2c6143fb=\"\">Diane also said, &#8220;Fortunately, he has a great mom that loves him that is going to go through hell or high water for him. \u2019m a great advocate for him because he\u2019s my heart he\u2019s my child you\u2019d do anything and go above and beyond for your children.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-v-2c6143fb=\"\">Addressing the person who took Kodi, Diane said, &#8220;Please help me help my son. If you want a dog, there\u2019s animal shelters and there\u2019s cats and dogs looking for a home. They need somebody to love them. Kodi already has somebody who loves him. We just want him back.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"WTXF\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-2c6143fb=\"\">What you can do:<\/p>\n<p data-v-2c6143fb=\"\">Diane asks anyone who recognizes the woman in the surveillance video or knows where Kodi may be to call the number listed on the family\u2019s flyer at 215-776-9297.<\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"WTXF\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-2c6143fb=\"\">What we don&#8217;t know:<\/p>\n<p data-v-2c6143fb=\"\">It is currently unknown where Kodi is or who took him from outside the North Philadelphia store.<\/p>\n<p class=\"group-source-paragraph\" data-v-4fbf7207=\"\">The Source: This article contains information from interviews with Diane Newman and family statements, as well as surveillance footage referenced in WTXF reporting.<\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox29.com\/tag\/news\" class=\"tags-tag\" data-v-2c6143fb=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">News<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox29.com\/tag\/pets-animals\" class=\"tags-tag\" data-v-2c6143fb=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Pets and Animals<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHILADELPHIA &#8211; A North Philadelphia mother is pleading for help after her disabled son&#8217;s dog, Kodi, was stolen&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":312353,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[139,6683,69,71,70],"class_list":["post-312352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-news","tag-pets-animals","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312352","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=312352"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312352\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/312353"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=312352"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=312352"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=312352"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}