ATTLEBORO, Mass. (WHDH) -- A pit-bull was recovered Sunday morning, two days after it was stolen from an animal shelter in Attleboro.

Workers at the shelter said there was a trail of evidence pinpointing how the 3-year-old dog named “Dozer,” was stolen. They believe the suspect snapped the barbwire on top of the cage and hopped the fence to get to the dog, then kicked open the gate to leave.

Workers believe Dozer was targeted and that the suspect was not working alone.

“We feared the worst that someone was going to take him for possible fighting or something of that nature so we went into full mode,” said Kim Penque, president of the Friends of Attleboro Animal Shelter.

Volunteer searchers spent the weekend canvassing the town with about 2,700 fliers.

“We pulled out all the stops on this one, because you know, we put our heart and souls into these dogs,” said Paul Galligan, a volunteer at the animal shelter.

A tipster led workers to the missing dog’s whereabouts. They won’t say how they got him back, but confirm a criminal investigation is underway.

“The bottom line is he’s back, he’s safe and our goal right now will be obviously to bring justice to those who took him and get him into a home,” said Penque.

Dozer’s cage is still empty but he will be returning to the animal shelter shortly.

Volunteers said they are working to improve the facility to make sure incidents like this never happen again.