A Blind Chicago Man Is Asking for Help After His Service Dog Was Stolen

A blind Chicago man is looking for answers after his four-legged best friend went missing from his backyard. Angel Santiago claims that his dog Bam Bam was stolen from his yard in June 2025.

Since his disappearance, Santiago has been using every tool at his disposal to find his beloved pooch, including asking for help from his community, who were more than happy to help and even came together to raise enough money for a sizeable reward for the pup's safe return.

But, as of August 2025, Bam Bam remains missing, which has prompted Santiago to take his quest for his dog even further, raising national awareness about the dog.

Keep reading to learn more about Bam Bam and what Santiago and his neighbors are doing to help facilitate his safe return, and hopefully get some justice for whoever came into the yard that fateful June day and took the poor pup away from the only home he's ever known.

A 14-year-old dachshund named Bam Bam has found himself at the center of a missing dog case after he was stolen from Santiago's Logan Square yard by two men. The 58-year-old is devastated by the loss of his companion, and a group of neighbors came together to help Santiago in his quest by forming a small search party dedicated to raising awareness about Bam Bam, according to Book Club Chicago.

As such, they've created a tip line and a Facebook page to try to facilitate the dog's return.

To sweeten the pot, they have also worked to raise money for a reward for the dog's return, a figure that was at $5,000 as of Aug. 19, 2025.

But, none of that action was turning up any clues, so they took things a step further and worked with Santiago to file a police report and to set up two different flyer distribution events to get the word out. While Bam Bam doesn't appear to be any closer to coming home, those steps have helped to attract national attention to the case.

In addition to the $5,000 reward, which is being offered up by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), the community has raised an additional $16,000 to support Santiago — who has glaucoma and type II diabetes — and to help offset the costs of the search, like the printing of the flyers that are being handed out or to add to PETA's reward money.

But, the one thing that the money is not being used for is helping Santiago to buy a new dog.

The grieving pup parent told a local Fox News station that he had no interest in getting another dog to replace Bam Bam. Instead, all he wants to do is find his beloved pet, bring him back, and return to the way things were when Bam Bam was safely at home.