Online pet detectives solve case of the stolen spaniels to retrieve their dogs outside travellers' camp By David Wilkes

No doubt the dognappers thought they had found a soft target when they snatched these fluffy little fellows. But the disappearance of six rare Tibetan spaniels from award-winning breeders Heather Simper and Elisabeth Scoates galvanised dog lovers across the world into remarkably powerful action.
Appalled by the raid on the kennels in the Oxfordshire village of Upton, near Didcot, friends set up a Facebook site appealing for information about the missing dogs.
And vital tips soon began flooding in about their possible whereabouts.

In safe hands: Owners Elisabeth Scoates, left, and Heather Simper are reunited with three of their dogs, Ivy, Harriet and Gus.

Within 24 hours, more than 450 people from as far afield as the U.S. and Norway had joined the online hunt. Hundreds of ‘missing’ posters showing pictures of the dogs were distributed and vets alerted across Britain.
By the day after the theft, sufficient leads were established for retired teachers Miss Simper, 64, and Miss Scoates, 63, to point the finger of suspicion at a travellers’ camp 25 miles away.

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They informed police, who visited the camp near Tadley, Hampshire, and found one of the dogs, three-year-old Harriet, tethered outside a caravan.
Like all the dogs, she has been microchipped so her identity was easily confirmed.
The next day, two-year-old Gus, a champion show dog, was found outside the same camp. His owners suspect he might have been freed after captors realised the dogs had become ‘too hot to hold on to’.
Both dogs were hungry but not physically harmed, and are now safely back home.

The kennels at the back of the home of Elisabeth Scoates and Heather Simper from Didcot, Oxfordshire, where they had six dogs stolen.

Another dog, Ivy, had turned up on their doorstep, possibly having run off when the thieves struck. But the search for Gladys, two, and seven-month-old puppies Alice and Amy continues. Last night Miss Simper, who has judged at Crufts, said: ‘The theft left us feeling numb, it’s like somebody stealing our children.
‘But the support from the local community and the general public has been immense and we can’t thank everyone enough.’

Tibetan spaniels originate from the Himalayan mountains,where monks used them as watchdogs. Puppies cost up to £1,000. The dogs were stolen on Tuesday. Miss Scoates described seeing four men coming out of the kennels and running towards them shouting, before they drove off.

A facebook page called 'Missing Tibetan Spaniels' set up to publicise 6 Tibetan Spaniels stolen from the home of Heather Simper and Elisabeth Scoates

By yesterday, numbers joining the ‘Missing Tibetan Spaniels’ page on Facebook had swelled to more than 1,500.

Some people fear the dogs may have been spirited away, possibly to Ireland, to be used to make money from breeding. The appeal has also spread to Twitter, where celebrities such as Gary Barlow and Davina McCall have been asked to help.

One Tadley resident said a few dozen families live on the traveller site, adding: ‘I wouldn’t go anywhere near that place. I’ve heard the police won’t even go in there unless there are a few of them.’

A spokesman for Thames Valley Police said: ‘We are investigating and appealing  for witnesses.’


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2080556/Online-pet-detective-solve-case-stolen-spaniels-retrieve-dogs-outside-travellers-camp.html#ixzz1i6yBqoIk

Courtesy of the Daily Mail