Police are appealing to the public for help after a puppy and four kittens were stolen from a pet store in Barrie Sunday.

According to police, the suspect broke into Doogan's Pet Centre at the Kozlov Shopping Centre shortly around 3:20 a.m. Sunday. The suspect smashed a portion of the glass front door, went straight to the back of the store and stole the pets within two minutes.

“We’ve never had anything like this happen before,” said owner Lindsay Fitzgerald. “It’s hard to understand why, but it’s a lot of effort and risk to do that for a pet.”

The suspect stole a nine-week-old Cockapoo and four eight-week old kittens.

“We are concerned, they’ve only had their first set of vaccinations and they’re prone to dehydration,” said Const. Sarah Bamford.

The suspect is described as a male, white, believed to be in his 20s and with a thin build.

Police have obtained surveillance video that shows the suspect entering and exiting the store.

"We can see on the video surveillance that he is leaving with a bag that we believe to contain the four kittens and the dog underneath his arm," said Bamford.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Barrie Police or Crime Stoppers.