Stolen dog bought at Dublin market

March 2008

TRUDIE the missing Shitzui has been safely returned to her Rathnew owner after an unsuspecting Bray family bought her at a market in

Dublin.

A father and daughter bought the stolen dog for ¤150 a couple of weeks ago at a market in Balbriggan and only realised the true identity of the dog when the daughter visited Rathnew and noticed missing posters for Trudie hanging up all over the village and Wicklow town.

Owner Mary Merrigan can’t hide her glee at being reunited with the family pet.

‘I was just delighted,’ she says. ‘It’s all just coincidence and if the daughter of the man who bought the dog hadn’t visited Rathnew I don’t think we would ever have gotten her back.’

The Bray father and daughter told Mary they bought Trudie from two men they believed to be Polish at a weekly market in Balbriggan. They two men were also attempting to sell four other dogs.

On the weekend Trudie went missing, four other pedigree dogs from Wicklow town, Ashford and Rathnew also disappeared.

‘You get so many calls and they all led to nothing so this is brilliant,’ continues an overjoyed Mary. ‘ Trudie was a little down but you can tell she was very well looked after while in Bray. When they returned her they refused an offer of any money and I would just like to thank them for everything.’

Mary has also contacted Wicklow and Balbriggan garda stations with the information passed on to her. She contacted the owner of another dog who also happened to go missing within hours of Trudie as well.