By Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer

Alameda, Callfornia – Two men robbed an 80-year-old woman of her Yorkshire terrier in Alameda, police said Monday.

Helen Bignone said she had just left a clock shop with her dog, named Deuce, near Encinal Avenue and Fountain Street when she was confronted by two men in a car about 2 p.m. Saturday.

One of the men acted as if he had a gun and demanded both the dog and her purse, police Lt. Sean Lynch said.

When Bignone refused, one of the men pulled the leashed dog away from her while the other grabbed her purse, police said.

The men fled in a faded blue or green 1980s Honda or Toyota sedan, which had a primer-colored left-front quarter panel.

The stolen dog, a 6-year-old male, has a microchip implant that can identify it.

“I’m just really worried that whoever has him isn’t treating him good,” Bignone said Monday. “I’m just hurt. I just want the dog back. It isn’t fair that anybody, particularly old people, can’t just walk around without fear of being robbed.”

Bignone said she actually can walk farther than Deuce. When the dog gets tired, she puts him in a cart she takes with her.

Police hope whoever is responsible or someone who knows who did the dognapping will have a “flash of humanity” and return it, Lynch said. “We’d like to get that dog back,” he said.

“It’s clearly a very despicable act,” Lynch said. “Obviously, anytime you’re going to take somebody’s property, you’re not a model citizen. But to steal both the purse and the dog from an 80-year-old woman who’s just out on a Saturday taking a walk, it doesn’t get more heartless than that.”

Anyone with information about the dog’s whereabouts is asked to call police at (510) 337-8340.