Puppy thieves filmed stealing £35,000 bulldogs in 40 seconds

Two men who broke into a pet shop and made off with five bulldog puppies valued at more than £35,000 are being hunted by police in Houston, Texas.

The heist took place on April 29 and took just 40 seconds to pull off.

Investigators have released CCTV footage from the shop that shows two masked men wearing hoodies and dark trousers pulling up outside in a dark coloured Honda Accord at around 3.30am.

The men smashed the front window of the shop to get inside, before immediately walking to a small area where the English and French bulldogs were kept.

The footage shows one of the men leaning over the top of a penned area and shoving puppies into two duffle bags.

Local media say that in total the puppies were worth $44,000, around £35,000.

The burglary was over within 40 seconds and the two thieves were filmed driving away in the Honda less than two minutes after breaking in to the store.

Officials said that since the April 29 burglary, three of the puppies have been returned to the pet shop, but two are still missing.