A north-east dog owner who fears her pets may have been stolen has issued an emotional appeal for their safe return.
Chris Wiseman’s four-year-old pedigree dogs, Polly and Roxy, vanished two weeks ago.
But despite repeated searches of the area around her Lonmay home, and pleas for information on social media, the 48-year-old is no closer to finding her beloved canines.
Mrs Wiseman said she fears Boston Terrier Polly and Chihuahua Roxy have been stolen and that she will never see them again.
“I stay in the country and they were chasing rabbits but they always come back,” she said. “This time neither of them came back. They wouldn’t both have been hit by a car, or both got stuck down a rabbit hole.
“There’s something strange happening. Whoever has them – please bring them back home.”
Mrs Wiseman added the dogs were like her children.
Last night a pet crime campaign group urged owners to be vigilant against opportunistic thieves.
A spokesman for the charity Dog Theft Action said people are not aware how valuable their animals can be.
He said: “We’ve got to be very aware these days to keep dogs in sight and if possible on long leads. Dog theft is rife at the moment.”
The spokesman urged dog owners to be wary of people who approach dogs and appear to “befriend them” – in some cases thieves use the situation to loosen an animals collar.
“Dogs in cars or outside shops are prime targets so don’t leave them like that. You wouldn’t go and leave your TV or iPhone outside a shop – it would be gone in seconds – but if you’ve got a pedigree dog they’re worth a lot of money.”
“A dog is part of the family. Unlike a TV, you can’t replace a dog.”
Dogs can be stolen for a variety of reasons. Many are sold on, others are ransomed back to families who post missing pet posters around the community.
Certain breeds of dogs are used for illegal dog fighting and others are worth large sums of money for breeding purposes.