A woman said she was robbed of up to five years with her dog after police said a man stole and killed it.

Chyanne Callender, 25, said she met her pug Lexi on her 13th birthday. The two moved out of her parents’ house seven years later when she was 20 and shared a home on East Brady Street near Butler Memorial Hospital.

They were inseparable until Jan. 5, 2024, when Callender came home to find Lexi missing. Last week, she found out someone confessed to taking and killing her dog — Joseph Hillard.

Police charged Hillard with one felony count each of burglary and aggravated cruelty to animals and one misdemeanor count each of tampering with evidence and theft of a movable item after he confessed Jan. 25. He was arrested Jan. 29 and said he committed the crime in January 2024.

Callender said met Hillard, 28, of Butler, on a dating site in 2023.

Callender said the two were friends for less than a year and she had no intention of dating dating him. She said she removed Hillard from her life after he made repeated advances.

She said she felt like Hillard wouldn’t take no for an answer on pursuing a relationship. Hillard identified Callender as his ex-girlfriend in his confession, according to the affidavit.

“I missed out on (Lexi) turning 11,” Callender said. “I missed out on that extra time with her.”

Callender said Lexi would have turned 12 this year on Feb. 14. She described Lexi as full of energy, lovable, friendly and always looking for attention.

“She’d look at you and snort until she got it,” Callender said.

Police said Hillard confessed to entering the home through an open window and taking the 10-year-old dog, battering it and killing it behind Rock Ann Haven in Butler Township.

Callender said she and Hillard had exchanged messages that day, but none were about Hillard visiting her house later.

“It took a big part of me,” Callender said. “For the longest time, I’d come home from work and say ‘I’m home, Lexi,’ and she wouldn’t be there.”

Pugs live up to 15 years, Callender said explaining she could have had up to five more years with Lexi.

Callender said it took her weeks to sit on the couch again since Lexi would always join her, just like when she slept and ate. Callender knew someone had been there when she arrived home that night to find the area next to the window that police say Hillard entered through was disturbed.

She later obtained security footage from her neighbor that showed a person walking around the house in the backyard, but they could not be seen entering. Callender is adamant she routinely locks all windows and doors including her car and had the window locked in the January cold.

Callender was unsatisfied with the police investigation. She said police told her fingerprints could not be acquired from the window unless they are visible and greasy. She hung more than 140 flyers throughout Butler and was told she could receive a citation if she did not take them down, Callender said.

She’s more optimistic now that police filed charges a year later.

“I wish I would have gotten better answers,” she said. “I wish this would not have been the outcome for Lexi.”

Callender started a petition to raise awareness in hopes Hillard will receive a stiff punishment. The petition had about 1,800 signatures at noon Wednesday.

“I want him to serve the full amount of time for it,” Callender said. “He doesn’t get to get a slap on the wrist. He fully knew what he was doing.”

Hillard is being held in the Butler County Prison on a $100,000 bond.

“Had I been home that night, I wonder what would have happened to me,” Callender said.