Lady Gaga’s dog walker was shot and two of the singer’s French bulldogs were stolen in Hollywood during an armed robbery, police said. The singer is offering a $500,000 reward. The dog walker was shot once on Wednesday night and is expected to survive his injuries, according to Los Angeles Police Capt Jonathan Tippett, commanding officer of the department’s elite robbery-homicide division. The man was walking three of Lady Gaga’s dogs at the time but one escaped. That dog has been recovered safely. Capt Tippett told AP that the dogs belong to pop star Lady Gaga. It is unknown if the dog walker was attacked because of his celebrity client, he said. Lady Gaga is offering the reward for the return of her dogs – whose names are Koji and Gustav – with no questions asked, according to her representative. The singer is currently in Rome to film a movie. Her three French bulldogs stayed in Hollywood, <em>The Daily Mail </em>reported. Police were initially called to North Sierra Bonita Avenue, a street off the famed Sunset Boulevard, about 9.40pm on Wednesday after several 911 calls reporting a man screaming and the sound of a gunshot, said Capt Steven Lurie, commanding officer of the department’s Hollywood division. The victim, whose name has not been released, was walking the dogs when a four-door sedan pulled over and two men tried to steal the animals, Capt Tippett said. The dog walker tried to fight them off and in the struggle was shot by one of the men wielding a semiautomatic handgun. It is not yet known if both men were armed. Fire department paramedics took the victim to a hospital where he was in critical condition from a single gunshot wound, police said on Thursday. A source close to Lady Gaga said the singer was urging anyone who has the dogs to contact the email address kojiandgustav@gmail.com to return the dogs and retrieve the reward, no questions asked. The French bulldog is a popular breed. Because some dogs cost several thousand dollars as puppies, there is a growing trend for the dogs to be stolen for resale or breeding.
