SOUTH BEND — It's a type of case police say they've never seen before: a bizarre report of assault that ended in an apparent "dog-napping."

It started out as a normal, nightly dog walk down Mishawaka Avenue near Adams High School, but it ended with a stolen pit bull. Now, police are taking a closer look to see if dog fighting might be the reason behind the odd theft.

For Sarah Anders and her boyfriend Joseph Lapadat, pictures and memories are all that remain. Their last 36 hours have been spent anxiously waiting for news of their 6-month-old pit bull terrier "Justice."

"I miss her and I hope she's OK," said Anders. "I've not been able to sleep. She sleeps on our bed. She's part of our family."

It all started around 9:30 Tuesday night, when Lapadat took Justice for a walk, and ran into two men he said were parked in a car along Mishawaka Avenue.

"I was around the football field at Adams, and there was a car sitting there with two guys," Lapadat said. "They were talking to three other people who were walking away from the baseball field. I'm coming home at this point, and they stop me. They start talking to me, asking me if I fight or anything."

Lapadat says the men said Justice would make a good fighting dog. But he says he's strongly against dogfighting.

"Never have, never will," he said. "Just because she's a pit bull don't make her an aggressive dog."

South Bend Code Enforcement Animal Control Manager Gary Libbey agrees.

"They are a good pet if they're raised and bred properly," he said.

The problem here in South Bend, though, he says, in many cases they're not.

"26 percent of the canines we've impounded this year are pit bulls or pit bull breeds," Libbey said. "From talking to other shelters across the country, that's much higher than normal."

Lapadat says he told the men that his dog wasn't a fighting dog, and they began petting the dog.

"I said, OK, he's just playing with him," said Lapadat. "And out of the blue, I get punched in the face six times."

The last punch to Lapadat's nose was hard enough to knock him to the ground. As he began to get up, he says the men took off the dog's leash, put her in their car and took off.

Lapadat rushed home to call the police, and Anders says she was shocked when he walked in the door.

"[There was] blood dripping down his nose, a leash, but no dog," she says.

After explaining what happened, and calling for help, Lapadat then went to the hospital, where he says doctors treated him for separated cartilage in his nose.

Investigators looking into the case Thursday called it a bizarre twist, on a familiar problem.

"We get reports of dogs being stolen out of backyards and things of that nature, but nobody's ever been assaulted and their animal stolen from them," said South Bend Code Enforcement Animal Control Manager Gary Libbey.

But even with a broken nose, Lapadat and Anders say what hurts most, is the thought of what their dog might be going through.

"Something we didn't want her to," said Anders.

"Fighting, and possibly being killed, it's just..." trailed off Lapadat. "I'm just lucky that I walked away from it, but all I want is my dog."

His hope now is that Justice will be both served and found.

Libbey says the odds of that happening aren't good.

Anders says Justice wasn't micro-chipped, and wasn't registered, so she wasn't wearing a tag.

"That's why it's so important for pet owners to get their animals micro-chipped. Collars and tags can be taken off the animals and discarded. But the microchip is inserted under the skin, so it's virtually impossible for anyone to remove it," Libbey said.

Even so, Anders and Lapadat aren't giving up hope. Libbey says his officers aren't giving up the search either.

"My animal control officers are out patrolling, keeping an eye out for the vehicle. And we'll keep our eyes out for the dog here at the shelter," Libbey said.

The suspects are described as two black males, both with ponytails. They were last seen driving a maroon Cadillac with temporary, paper license plates.

Anders says Justice was wearing a black collar with pink roses on it when she was taken.

The couple has offered a $200 reward for the safe return of the dog.