Porcelain Pup Thief Sweetens Apology With Chocolate Offerings

People make mistakes and most of us can understand and forgive, especially when forgiveness is sought politely in a typed letter and sweetened with chocolate offerings. That is what happened at a Belfast pub when a thief who stole a porcelain dog returned it with an eloquent explanation, a chocolate egg, and a promise to behave in the future, Mashable reports.

So could you avoid theft charges if you did the same thing? There are no guarantees. But sweet things do sometimes happen, as you are about to see.

Two Lost Dogs

Last November a pub in Belfast, Northern Ireland was the victim of a theft. One of two beloved dogs -- Cedric and Cecil -- that had long had a place on the pub shelves was stolen. The Sweet Afton pub issued a description of its porcelain pup, Cedric, and offered a reward.

Nothing happened for a few weeks and the pub replaced Cedric with a new porcelain pup, concerned that Cecil was getting lonely. The new pup was dubbed Frederick, and he took his place beside Cecil. A pub spokesperson told Mashable, "Trepidatiously the staff began to warm to this new arrival, letting their hearts open again after being so brutally ripped apart by Cedric's disappearance."

After Frederick was settled in, people at Sweet Afton's pub were feeling better. The new porcelain pup really seemed to fit in and it did. Fred remained on pub shelves while a drunken visitor -- completely taken with the décor -- stole Cecil. The Swet Afton dogs seemed doomed.

A Polite, Typed Letter

Now comes the sweet part of the story. Cecil's thief, having recovered from a hangover, realized the error of his or her ways and anonymously returned the dog.

The letter reads in part, "Please accept my sincere apology for any upset or offence caused by my drunken antics, and I promise next time I'll behave and not drink copious amounts of alcohol. I have also provided the other dog with a Crème Egg in case it has been pining for its friend over the weekend."

Will This Work Here?

It is hard to say whether this story could happen outside of Ireland. But it seems likely that in many places in the world people would be moved by such an admission, and the humorous apology, not to mention the fact that the typed letter had no spelling or grammatical errors.

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Related Resources:

• Theft Defenses (FindLaw)
• Shoplifting (FindLaw)
• Making a Business Apology: 3 Legal Tips (FindLaw's Free Enterprise)