BRADENTON, Fla. — Officials say the remains of two dogs awaiting cremation were stolen along with a freezer from a veterinarian's office in Florida.

According to a Bradenton Herald report, video surveillance showed a man driving away from the Bradenton Veterinary Hospital last week with its outdoor freezer in the back of his pickup truck.

Office manager Kathy Richardson said she hoped the remains of two dogs awaiting cremation in that freezer would be returned. Staff searched garbage cans and dumpsters in the area, but they did not find them.

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Richardson said the dogs' owners, expecting to have the ashes returned to them following a private cremation, were distraught to learn that the remains of their pets had been stolen. She said one of the owners asked her "basically what we had all been saying, and that was, 'How on earth could somebody do this?'?"

"We can certainly all put ourselves into that place of losing a pet," Richardson told the paper. "But to put the family through this is heartbreaking. Calling that young lady was the hardest thing I had to do. First, I passed along my condolences and then told her that unfortunately I had some other information to share."

Bradenton Police are investigating the theft.

Richardson said the office had kept the freezer outside for the last three years because crematory companies pick up the remains after hours.

"I just can't believe somebody would be so heartless," Richardson said.