A chihuahua stolen three years ago has been reunited with her owner after being sold on the internet.
Tiger-Lily was four years old when she was snatched on May 26, 2013, after slipping through a garden gate.
Her owner, Karen Porteous, 50, who is medically retired with multiple sclerosis, put up hundreds of posters in her home town of Shefford in Bedfordshire in an attempt to find her.
Despite police efforts and a huge Facebook campaign, she heard nothing and had given up hope of ever seeing her dog again.
She was astonished to receive a call last Wednesday from a woman who said that she had recognised Tiger-Lily from a Facebook post. The dog had been sold on Gumtree 14 months previously and was now living 125 miles away in Stoke-on-Trent with a veterinary nurse who had named her Bella. The woman had no idea that Bella was Tiger-Lily until she stumbled upon a picture on a page for lost dogs and recognised her pet in the photograph. Tiger-Lily, who turns seven next month, was microchipped, so she could be traced to Mrs Porteous and her family as soon as she was taken to a vet.
Advertisement
Mrs Porteous, her husband Bruce, an IT consultant, and their three children were reunited later that day with their beloved dog.
Mrs Porteous said: “We are absolutely over the moon. We were so upset and angry when she went missing. She had a collar and a tag so it was obvious she belonged to somebody.
“One of our neighbours saw somebody pick her up and walk off so we knew she had been stolen. At the time it took quite a toll on me. Not knowing what had happened to her was awful. When we were reunited it was absolutely great. She is a little bit feistier than she was but it’s like she has never been away.”
Tiger-Lily was four years old when she was snatched on May 26, 2013, after slipping through a garden gate.
Her owner, Karen Porteous, 50, who is medically retired with multiple sclerosis, put up hundreds of posters in her home town of Shefford in Bedfordshire in an attempt to find her.
Advertisement
Despite police efforts and a huge Facebook campaign, she heard nothing and had given up hope of ever seeing her dog again.
She was stunned to receive a call out of the blue last Wednesday from a woman who said that she had recognised Tiger-Lily from a Facebook post.
The dog had been sold on Gumtree 14 months previously and was now living 125 miles away in Stoke-on-Trent with a veterinary nurse who had named her Bella. She had no idea that Bella was Tiger-Lily until she stumbled upon a picture on a page for lost dogs and recognised her pet in the photograph.
Tiger-Lily was microchipped, so she could be traced to Mrs Porteous and her family as soon as she was taken to a vet.
Mrs Porteous, her husband Bruce, an IT consultant, and their three children were reunited later that day with their beloved dog.
Advertisement
Mrs Porteous said: “We are absolutely over the moon. We were so upset and angry when she went missing. She had a collar and a tag so it was obvious she belonged to somebody.
“One of our neighbours saw somebody pick her up and walk off so we knew she had been stolen. At the time it took quite a toll on me. Not knowing what had happened to her was awful. When we were reunited it was absolutely great. She is a little bit feistier than she was but it’s like she has never been away.”