Lady Gaga praises ‘hero’ dog walker who ‘risked his life to fight’ when her dogs were stolen

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Lady Gaga’s two French bulldogs, which were stolen by thieves who shot and wounded the dog walker, were recovered unharmed on Friday evening.

A woman brought the dogs to the LAPD’s Olympic Community Police Station, just northwest of downtown, around 6pm said Capt. Jonathan Tippett, commanding officer of the Elite Robbery-Homicide Division.

Lady Gaga’s representative and detectives went to the station and confirmed that they were the dogs. 

The woman who dropped off the dogs appears to be ‘uninvolved and unassociated’ with Wednesday night’s attack, Tippett said.

The sudden breakthrough came just hours after Lady Gaga broke her silence over the incident in which armed men shot her dog walker, and kidnapped two of her French bulldogs, calling her employee ‘a hero forever’. 

Making her first comments on the seizure of the dogs, the pop singer said on her social media accounts that she would pay $500,000 for the safe return of the dogs, including from anyone who had bought or found them.

‘My beloved dogs Koji and Gustav were taken in Hollywood two nights ago. My heart is sick and I am praying my family will be whole again with an act of kindness,’ Gaga posted on her Twitter and Instagram accounts, alongside photos of the dogs.

‘I will pay $500,000 for their safe return. Email KojiandGustav@gmail.com to contact us,’ Gaga said on Friday afternoon.

The singer praised the dog walker, 30-year-old Ryan Fischer, saying he ‘risked your life to fight for our family. You’re forever a hero.’

The two dogs were seized when Fisher walked them in a residential area in Hollywood on Wednesday night. He was shot after a car pulled up alongside him and two men demanded at gunpoint that he turn over the animals, police in Los Angeles said in a statement.

Fisher was shot once by one of them, and the men drove off with two dogs. A third dog, Miss Asia, escaped and was later found by police.

Earlier on Friday, harrowing new footage emerged of the moment Fischer was shot in the street by assailants who then snatched her beloved beloved pets and left him writhing in pain in the street. 

The video was taken on a neighbor’s doorbell camera near West Hollywood’s Sierra Bonita Avenue where Fischer, was walking the three dogs when he was suddenly attacked in the street at 10pm on Wednesday night. 

They shot him once in the chest with a handgun, snatched Koji and Gustav and fled. Miss Asia evaded them initially then, once they had fled, ran back to Fischer as he lay on the ground, screaming: ‘Help! I’ve been shot!’ 

Gaga is in Rome filming a new movie. When she learned that her dogs had been snatched, she immediately offered a $500,000, ‘no questions asked’ reward which law enforcement experts have criticized. They say it may not only jeopardize the investigation but also create a market for opportunistic criminals to target and kidnap celebrity pets then return them for handsome rewards. 

On Friday, the LAPD released a description of both suspects; they were described as black males between 20 and 25. The car they were driving was a Nissan Altima. 

Fischer survived the single gunshot and is in the hospital where he is in a stable condition. 

Police are now hunting the kidnappers who seemed to know exactly who they were targeting when they pulled over suddenly to attack Fischer. 

Danny Trejo, the actor who starred with Gaga in the film Machete Kills, said on Friday morning it was obvious she had been targeted.

‘People don’t just drive around say, ‘hey look there’s two dogs’. They targeted her,’ he said during a brief appearance on Today.

The doorbell camera video shows Fischer walking down the street with the three dogs then becoming startled when the attackers suddenly stopped their white sedan. 

They approached him quickly and started beating him while he tried to protect the dogs, yelling: ‘No!’ and screaming at the top of his lungs. 

Fischer was still on the ground, wailing, when he was shot once. The attackers then drove away quickly, leaving him on the street.  

Fischer was found by neighbors, covered in blood and clinging to Miss Asia. He was then taken to the hospital and Miss Asia was taken into the care of the authorities temporarily. 

Gaga is said to be ‘devastated’ by the incident. She remains holed up in her hotel room in Rome, where she is filming the new movie, Gucci. 

‘Lady Gaga is beside herself about this situation,’ a source told ET. ‘Ryan is not only her dog walker, but also her friend. She is horrified that this happened.’

‘She is completely devastated and sickened by this,’ the source said, adding that the singer’s dogs are like ‘ her babies’. 

‘She feels somewhat helpless because she is far away in Italy, but is doing everything she can and praying for Ryan, Koji and Gustavo.’

It’s unclear if she intends to return to the US this week. 

She has not yet released a public statement, but has put up a $500,000 reward for the dogs’ safe return. The move was criticized on Thursday by law enforcement experts who suggested it was premature. 

Frank Montoya Jr., who worked in the FBI between 1991 and 2016 after serving in the army, told DailyMail.com that Gaga’s reward not only put the investigation at risk, but opened up a market for criminals to start stealing celebrity dogs and returning them for high ransoms.

‘It’s always been an option for opportunistic criminals.

‘But…paying, no questions asked, can open up a Pandora’s box of sorts. She should give the investigation a chance.

‘After all, the dogs notwithstanding, a human being was shot,’ he said. The LAPD is refusing to comment on whether or not celebrity pet-knapping. 

Fischer, who runs a social media account called Valley Of The Dogs, had been watching Gaga’s French bulldogs while she’s away filming the new Ridley Scott movie in Rome, Italy.

Her co-star Adam Driver was pictured on set on Thursday, while Gaga reportedly remained in her hotel room. The Academy-Award-nominated actress is believed to be staying at luxurious Baglioni Hotel Regina.

Driver plays Maurizio Gucci, the grandson of Gucci fashion brand founder Guccio Gucci in the film, which follows the aftermath of his murder.

Lady Gaga plays his ex-wife Patrizia Reggiani, who was convicted of hiring a hitman to kill her husband in 1995.

Just six days ago, Fischer had posted a video to Instagram of himslef singing to Gaga’s pups, and tagged Miss Asia’s official Instagram page. He has previously posted images of the dogs on a number of other occasions.

French bulldogs are in high demand and sell for anywhere between $3,000-$5,000. Those with pedigree lineage can also go for as much as $10,000.