Pup ‘snatched by breeding gang’
A HEARTBROKEN family fear their cocker spaniel has been snatched by a dog breeding gang after CCTV showed it being bundled into a pickup truck.
Mother-of-three Caroline Culverwell was walking 14-week-old Mika in the countryside when the puppy bolted out of sight as they reached a pub car park.
CCTV then appears to show a white pickup truck going into the car park, before two doors open and a man grabs the pet.
Mrs Culverwell, 46, said Mika was like a fourth child to her and that her 11-year-old daughter Etalie is devastated. ‘She’s the first dog we have had,’ she said. ‘She could not have been an easier or more delightful puppy. We’re absolutely heartbroken, particularly my 11-year-old daughter. She’s not eating, she’s barely drinking.’
A social media appeal has been shared tens of thousands of times as well-wishers try to track down the puppy, who went missing in Outwood, Surrey, on Sunday.
Mrs Culverwell and her family went for a walk in the fields near the Dog and Duck pub before a planned lunch there. ‘She had lots of fun and in the last field she realised we were returning to the car park,’ she said. ‘She ran to the front of the pub where people were sitting and ran to the car.’
They called for Mika to come back – but quickly realised the puppy was nowhere to be found. A dozen pub-goers and staff then tried in vain to find her, searching until the evening. Staff checked their CCTV and found pictures of the snatch. ‘It appears it was an opportunistic crime,’ said Mrs Culverwell.
The family fear Mika, who has not been spayed, was taken by dog breeders because she is a pure-bred cocker spaniel. Police are investigating the theft.