By Kwon Mee-yoo
Staff Reporter

A man who stole and sold a pedigree dog has been caught by police ― but only after he sold the animal to an untimely fate.

Gunsan Police Station in North Jeolla Province booked the suspect, identified only as Choi, 42, on Monday for stealing the three-year-old Siberian Husky. He sold the dog ― worth about 3 million won ($2,400) ― on the black market for just 140,000 won.

According to the police, Choi took the animal from a nearby parking lot after losing 30,000 won at an adult video game arcade on April 28. The dog was owned by a nearby public bath operator.

Choi was apparently unaware of the true value of the animal when he sold it the next day for a fraction of its worth, police said.

``The dog Choi stole is of fine breed with a genealogical table,'' an officer said. ``The dog is well-tamed and thus did not resist when Choi took him in his car.''

Choi was finally caught after two days of surveillance using a photo taken by a CCTV camera overlooking the parking space. Unfortunately it was already too late ― the dog had already been sold to a bosintang (dog meat soup) restaurant.

meeyoo@koreatimes.co.kr