ANTIOCH — A woman who allegedly instructed her two young daughters to steal a neighbor’s dog was arrested on charges of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and grand theft.

Nora Vasquez’ arrest Wednesday came a week after her daughters, ages 7 and 9, told their elementary school principal they snatched the missing mutt on their mother’s orders.

A witness to the daylight dog-napping earlier this month told investigators that he saw two girls jump out of an SUV and grab the pooch from a neighbor’s porch while a woman shouted at them to hurry.

“We wonder why our children wind up the way they do,” said Antioch Police Lt. Pat Welch. “It’s unbelievable someone would take a 7- and 9-year-old and encourage them to do that and think it’s appropriate behavior.”

Vasquez, 35, acknowledged she told the girls to get the dog, a 1-year-old Chihuahua-Pekinese mix named Guppi, but told investigators she thought the pet was in danger from another dog nearby, according to Welch.

Vazquez was released on $20,000 bail, Welch said. The Associated Press could not find a listed telephone number for her.

The sisters first came under suspicion in Guppi’s disappearance when a school librarian noticed one of them reacting strangely to a sign the dog’s owners posted offering a reward for its return. The pair was summoned into the principal’s office, where they confessed, according to Welch.