Dog breeder killed in Colorado, 10 Doberman puppies stolen

Last week, a man was murdered in his Colorado home – and the killer stole a litter of his Doberman puppies, police said.

Paul Peavey, 57, was found dead in the Idaho Springs home, which is also used as a dog breeding facility, on Saturday, three days after he was reported missing.

No fewer than ten European Doberman puppies were stolen from the house, but officials could not confirm whether the dogs – which can sell for several thousand dollars – were a motive for the murder.

Friends of the dog breeder, however, assume that he was only interested in the young dogs.

As the Clear Creek County Sheriff's Office confirmed, it was friends of Peavey who found his body on a slope on his property on Saturday.

For some of them, it was their second trip to the home. They arrived on Wednesday after not hearing from Peavey for several days.

“I was the one who went to the property and found that so much was wrong, the puppies were gone, the house was trashed, and everything of value was missing,” his friend Bruce Boynton told Denver 7.

Boynton called police to check on the residents' condition, but officers who searched the property on Thursday found nothing.

Authorities did not disclose Peavey's cause of death, but said the condition of his remains strongly suggested the deaths were “suspicious.”

No arrests were made.

At least ten Doberman puppies were missing from the kennel, but Peavey's three adult dogs survived.

According to police, some of the stolen puppies have already been sold but have not yet been picked up by their new owners.

However, all of them are equipped with a microchip.

According to his company, Elite European Dobermans, Peavey bred two litters of puppies a year on a 110-acre property in Idaho Springs, a mountain town about 30 miles west of Denver.

The breeder promised “quality over quantity” and offered to provide buyers with Doberman puppies that were already 7 months old.

His last litter of puppies was born in mid-July, meaning the missing puppies could be as young as four weeks old.

“His dogs were his life. He had been through a lot in his life and the dogs were his therapy,” Boynton said.

Authorities believe the missing puppies may have been sold on social media or elsewhere since August 20. They are urging anyone who purchased a Doberman puppy from central Colorado in the last week to contact police.

Those who have purchased a puppy from Elite European Dobermans since June are also asked to contact the Sheriff's Office to assist in accurately determining the number of missing puppies.