On Friday 5 March 2021, our lives drastically changed for the worse. Our girls, Missy and Biscuit, were violently stolen from the safety of their home – a home that we thought to be extremely safe and secure, where we had lived comfortably for the past 27 years. It turns out that wasn’t the case, and we learnt that thieves will do anything to get what they come for.
At 18:58, whilst we were sitting enjoying our dinner, unbeknown to us Missy and Biscuit were being dragged away from their family. Just 10 minutes of us having our evening meal before calling our dogs back inside was all it took for the thieves to do what they had planned.
After calling the police, breaking down physically and emotionally, we checked our CCTV. The harrowing audio of our dogs screaming in fear and pain as they were grabbed will live with us forever. It replays in our heads every day.
“The emotional torture is 24/7. It affects your mental, emotional and physical well being”
On the night, when we called the police, we had a great response. Initially they worked to gain forensic evidence and getting our statements. However, We have CCTV footage of a car of interest, which was also reported for an attempted theft less than 10 minutes away from us on the same night.
We discovered our house had been under surveillance by an organised group that systematically managed to gain access through our stock field and go through five closed gates that were left propped open for a quick getaway.
There was also a woman, walking with no torch on a dark country road, who we believe to have been feeding our dogs to keep them quiet so we didn’t disturb them. As well as propping our gates open, feeding the dogs and scouting our property, they also unplugged one of our CCTV cameras.
Trying to find Missy and Biscuit has led us to work with a number of charities. This is where the process of tracking stolen dogs down is more a cottage industry, and relies on volunteers across the UK and Ireland helping us to share our posters and our contact details.
Our contact details being all over the World Wide Web has its negatives. We have been the victims of hoax callers and scammers. This was on a daily basis, and it happens to all pet abduction victims. Some are vile people getting our hopes up that they have found our stolen dogs, they then laugh and shout that they are dead. One told me they had chopped the heads off and sent them to the butchers. The scammers are always calling saying they want the reward upfront or they will harm our pets.
As a family, we are suffering enough the heartache of not knowing where Missy and Biscuit are, if they are safe. The emotional torture is 24/7. It affects your mental, emotional and physical well being. Please have a look at our we won’t ever stop until they are safe in our arms.