by Sophie Doughty, Evening Chronicle
Nov 30 2009
David Craigs feared he would never see his beloved border collie again after thieves drove off in his Land Rover as she slept on the back seat.
But she has now been returned to her delighted owners after being dumped near a farm in County Durham.
She made her way to the nearest sheep-farm, in Wingate, but it was not until the farmer who found her read about the dog’s disappearance in the Chronicle that he realised where she had come from.
And David, 52, overjoyed when he heard his dog had been found.
“I’m absolutely over the moon,” he said. “I don’t think we will ever get the Land Rover back, but I don’t mind. I was more worried about the dog. I really didn’t think we would get her back.”
David left his Land Rover Defender outside the back door of his home, in Tritlington, near Morpeth, for a matter of minutes with the keys in the ignition when the thieves struck.
They free-wheeled the vehicle out of the farm gates, at just after 4pm last Saturday, and started the engine on the main road before fleeing the scene.
But the thieves were unaware that seven-year-old Meg was lying on the back seat.
Fearing his beloved pet would be dumped on the roadside once the unintentional dog-nappers discovered she was there, David made an emotional plea in the Chronicle for her safe return.
And this was spotted on Friday by the farmer that has been looking after her for three days.
“She was found on Tuesday evening and the farmer kept her and had been asking around to see if anyone had lost their dog,” he said. “And when the article ran in the Chronicle, she rang me and we went to pick her up.
“She was a bit skinny because she had been fretting and had not been eating, but otherwise she is fine.
“She had obviously been dumped and found her way to the nearest sheep farm and she had just been rounding their sheep up for a couple of days.”
Meg is now happily settling back into life on the farm.
And David believes he would not have got his dog back if it had not been for the Chronicle.
“I would just like to thank the Chronicle. We had phone calls and messages from all over the country after the story went in.
“We feel really lucky to have her back, if she had been any further down south when they dumped her whoever found her probably wouldn’t have seen the article and we wouldn’t have got her back.”
Police are still hunting the thieves who took David’s Land Rover and are appealing for witnesses..
Source: http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-evening-chronicle/2009/11/30/stolen-sheepdog-meg-reunited-with-morpeth-owner-72703-25287532/
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