Charlie & Scuffy, cavalier King Charles & bichon

Reunited! Stolen dogs found
Published: January 27, 2006

A GRANDMOTHER-OF-SEVEN, who had her car and dogs stolen on the way to visit family in Kingsbury, was reunited with “her babies” on Thursday last week, following a Harrow Times’ appeal.

Gwendolynne Smith, 65, of Great Yarmouth, was overjoyed when she saw her beloved pets Charlie, a seven-year-old King Charles cavalier, and Scuffy, a 14-year-old bichon frise, for the first time since the theft on January 5.

Missing puppies returned

“I was just crying and crying,” said Gwendolynne, who picked up her pooches after driving to her daughter Beverley’s house in Belvedere Way. “I’ve been so worried about my babies. I want to thank everybody who helped find them.”

A new year’s trip to see her daughter and grandsons ended in disaster when Gwendolynne stopped her silver Vauxhall Agila on nearby Ormsby Way to ask a dustman directions.

Seconds later, an opportunistic thief jumped in and sped away with her dogs and possessions, including cash, credit cards, clothes and a state-of-the-art satellite navigation system.

After family and friends had searched the area and pinned up posters, a distraught Beverley called the Harrow Times.

Mother-of-three Beverley, 39, said: “I’m convinced the appeal helped get them back.”

Seven days after their disappearance, a woman walking in Borehamwood woods discovered the animals and alerted the dog warden at Hertsmere Council, who took them in. After hearing nothing for a week, warden Lyndsey Marchetto contacted a nearby rescue centre, who recognised the dogs’ descriptions.

Beverley said: “I was really excited. I rang my mum and told her. She was laughing and crying at the same time.”

Lyndsey, of nearby Belmont Circle, drove Charlie and Scuffy to Beverley’s home on January 18.

“This is my fifth year in the job and it’s definitely one of the happiest stories I’ve been involved with,” she said.

Beverley said: “Scuffy was quite dirty, had two black eyes and seemed a bit traumatised. He also had a scratch mark on his back. My heart went out to him.

“But Charlie started licking everybody. He was so happy. I made them a bowl of chicken and gave them some chocolate as a treat.”They were exhausted and went to sleep at 9pm. The next morning, they woke up early and were pining. I think they were worried they’d been left again.”

Gwendolynne, who returned to Norfolk after the theft, drove back to Kingsbury in a replacement car fitted with a neighbour’s sat nav system the next morning.

“When I first saw Scuffy, he just wanted to curl up next to me,” she said. “You could see he was happy. Charlie was really excitable. I brought a big box of treats and have been spoiling them.

“I always thought they would come back.”

The loss of her dogs ended a miserable 12 months for Gwendolynne.

Her husband Bill, 68, died in January and a month later she found out she had breast cancer. She has been given radiotherapy treatment and is due to have chemotherapy. She was also coming to terms with the sudden death of her other daughter Debbie Tant, who died of a brain tumour in 2000, aged just 38.

She hopes her happy reunion will spark a change in her fortunes.

She said: “We didn’t have a nice time when I came here two weeks ago. It was horrible. But I am much happier now and want to celebrate. This is the best possible outcome.”

Beverley said: “We have got so close since this has happened.

“I really hope this will be a good year. Things have started well, she’s just had a check-up and the doctor said the cancer hasn’t spread. The insurance company have also agreed to pay out on her car.”

Neighbour John Gibbs, who called the Harrow Times after the theft, said: “She has been so depressed without her babies. We’re a close community and are all really pleased for her.”

http://www.goodnewsblog.com/2006/01/27/reunited-stolen-dogs-found