Stolen dog returned after more than four years

Published: May 29, 2008 | 7070th good news item since 2003

A vet despaired of seeing her dog again after the black labrador was stolen from her home.
But now four-and-a-half years later Midge has been returned to her owner.

Christine Howe, senior partner at Howe and Starns in Uckfield, had let Midge out into the garden in Blackboys .

But when she called her in, the dog had gone.

She put up posters everywhere, logged onto lost pet websites and informed police before embarking on a fruitless search of her own.

She said: ‘After six months I’d given up hope.’

Then last week she received a telephone call to say Midge had been handed into a vet’s practice near Horley in West Sussex.

Owner and dog have now been re-united and Midge is none the worse for wear, ‘except for the fact she is very fat, deaf and a bit arthritic’.

Christine told the Express: ‘Fortunately Midge had been microchipped and my name, practice telephone number and mobile number were logged on the database.

‘It was easy to get hold of me.’

It is thought Midge may have been stolen for breeding.

Christine said: ‘I was told two girls took her into the vets on some odd pretext.

‘The first thing the vet did was scan her for a microchip as we all do when we receive a lost animal.’

She had acquired another black labrador in the meantime.

‘The new dog is very jealous,’ Christine said.

‘I am going to have to work at making sure they get on.

‘I just could not believe it when she was returned to me.’

Published in Animals
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