Dognapping stopped Couple make sure that pet is not snatched
AMARRIED couple stopped an attempted dognapping after they witnessed two men with a van chasing a whippet down a lane.
Darl and Victoria Hamlett were driving home in separate cars near Cirencester when they happened across the incident at 10.05am on Wednesday, July 17.
Mrs Hamlett was following behind on the Calmsden country road, Dark Lane, and grew curious when she saw her husband’s car stop beside a white transit van that was parked in the road along with other cars that had stopped.
She then saw a small “nervous” whippet running towards her, followed by two young men who she said were calling ‘c’mon Lucky!.’
According to Mrs Hamlett, the whippet was a young bitch that had white fur with brown patches.
Mrs Hamlett, 48, said: “The dog seemed really wary of the two men. I know if I called my dogs, they would come to me. It looked very nervous. It was the way the men were marching down the road, not listening to anybody or asking anyone for help getting the dog.”
The men had thick Liverpudlian accents, she said, were white, 6ft tall, of slim build and wearing dark clothes.
“She, the dog, was very nervous. She came to the door twice and put her paw in the door and I thought I was going to be able to secure her,” added the care assistant.
Mrs Hamlett went on to say that the men claimed that the bitch was theirs.
She went on to say that she could tell the whippet was wary as her “tail was clamped into its bottom and its ears were flat” - Mrs Hamlett said she could pick up on the signs as she used to be a deputy manager Pets At Home.
As the men approached her, she said: “I told them I didn’t believe it was their dog and that I was going to call the police.
hone one of the guys who seemed more alpha than the other one carried on after the dog, but the other guy stopped and said ‘C’mon we’ve got to get to work leave it leave it, it’s not really his dog. We were just messing. C’mon we’ve got to go.’”
The two men then went back to their van, got in and drove past Mrs Hamlett’s car. The dog had run off in the same direction and the couple said that it looked like the men were going to run the dog over.
The 51-year-old whipped his phone out and started taking pictures. The van then slammed on its breaks. Then men got out and approached Mr Hamlett.
Mr Hamlett recounts: “They asked to see my phone.”
The couple saw the bitch running towards a nearby house. Mrs Hamlet went to the house and informed the shocked resident about the situation.
A Gloucestershire Constabulary spokesman said: “We received a report of an incident in Calmsden near Cirencester at around 10.05am this morning in which two men attempted to coax a whippet that didn’t belong to them into a van.
“The men are described as white, 6ft tall, of slim build, wearing dark clothes and with thick Liverpool accents.
“The van was a white Transit style model.
“The local policing team have been made aware and anyone with information is asked to call 101 and quote incident 258 of July 17.
“We would like to thank the members of the public who reported this incident and would ask anyone else who comes across suspicious activity like this to contact us at the earliest opportunity.