Young Shots activity day

(for eight- to 16-year-olds) Grousemoor Country

House, llandegla po.st/youngshotsgrouse was stolen or whether she managed to slip her lead and run off. But we haven’t heard any news of her since.”

The dog is thought to have disappeared between 3pm and 4pm on the Saturday afternoon when the fair was said to be “heaving”. The incident was reported to the midland Game Fair’s police and dog wardens immediately.

a1 Decoys has issued the following description: “ammo

8 • Shooting times & Country magazine a £500 reward has been offered for information leading to ammo’s safe return and the police crime reference number is 750-515/09/18.

Shooting Times contributor David Tomlinson said: “This is a sad reminder of the vulnerability of gundogs to theft, which in this case seems most likely to have been opportune rather than planned. The moral is to never, ever, let your dog out of sight at a public event like a game fair unless it is secure in a dog crate or car.”

Freedom of information requests to UK police forces prove dog thefts are on the rise. In 2013, 1,491 dogs were reported stolen, 1,599 in 2014, 1,776 in 2015, and 1,774 in 2016.

In may, gundog trainer Neil Varney of Twistmount Gundogs had two black labradors and a white springer bitch stolen from a locked trailer and, at the time of writing, they have yet to be recovered.

In July 2018, Conservative mp Ross Thomson introduced a private members bill to make pet theft a separate offence, with tougher penalties. It was unopposed, attracting strong cross-party support, and goes forward for its second reading on 26 October.

For advice on keeping your dog safe from theft visit po.st/ theftgundogs.