Three women have been arrested for the theft of two dangerous dogs at the heart of a lengthy legal battle from a Vancouver Island animal shelter last week.

The dogs were taken from a shelter in the small town of Coombs, B.C., sometime between Thursday night and Friday morning.

Police believe the dog-nappers cut a hole in the fence surrounding the SPCA shelter, and once inside, cut the locks on the kennels holding the two dogs.

Police are recommending charges of breaking and entering, theft, and possession of stolen property against the trio, who are all residents of the Oceanside area.

The two dogs, named Chloe and Zakk, had been in the Coombs SPCA shelter for more than a year, after a provincial court judge declared both to be dangerous and ordered them to be put down.

That decision is currently subject to an appeal, and the SPCA is housing the dogs until the appeal process is complete.

Both dogs were declared vicious by the municipality after they attacked smaller pets on nine separate occasions, Tom Armet, manager of building, bylaw and emergency services for the District of Nanaimo, told ctvbc.ca. That declaration required the dogs' owner to keep them in a secure closure and not allow them to run free.

"In 2008, these dogs ran off the property, and attacked a small dog in the company of small children," Armet said, describing the family as "traumatized" by the attack.

The district seized the dogs, and in January 2009, a Nanaimo provincial court judge ordered that they be destroyed.

The B.C. Supreme Court has ordered a new hearing into that order for procedural reasons -- a decision that was upheld by the Court of Appeal -- but a date has yet to be scheduled in provincial court.

Oceanside RCMP Staff Sgt. Brian Hunter told ctvbc.ca that the dogs' legal limbo has triggered quite a bit of public interest from animal lovers.

"There have been small protests in and around the SPCA in recent weeks," he said.

Hunter said that he could not reveal if the women had any prior relationship with the dogs, or if they were protesters, until charges have been approved by Crown counsel.

The dogs, one a black lab cross and the other a German shepherd cross, are now being held at an undisclosed location.

The three suspected dog-nappers were released from police custody on a promise to appear notice. Their next court date is May 12.