Dog found in Leominster three years and 100 miles later

Dasha the greyhound has been reunited with his owner, Jessica Miller, three years after he was believed to have been stolen.

What the seven-year-old pooch has been doing, and where he has been in that time, remains unknown – all the more mysterious because he disappeared from a garden all the way up in Derbyshire.

Jessica had given up hope of ever seeing her beloved pet again but in a strange twist the greyhound was spotted by a farmer, trotting down a country lane near Leominster, last week.

Thinking the dog may have escaped from a neighbour nearby, he contacted Herefordshire Council’s environmental health and trading standards service, and officer Dave Poolton, who was gobsmacked by what he found.

Dasha was microchipped, but his last registered owner was no local.

Dave said: “When I saw that the dog was last registered in Derbyshire several years ago, I naturally assumed that the microchip was out of date.

"Nevertheless, I called Jessica, and the first thing she did was burst into tears. I have to admit, I welled up a little myself.”

It turned out Dasha was stolen from the back garden of his owner’s home during the summer of 2014. The incident was reported to the police and local vets, followed by a frantic viral search on Facebook, but there was no trace of Dasha at the time.

Jessica said: "I genuinely believed I would never see Dasha again. He was only four when he was stolen from our back garden.

"As soon as we had the call from Dave, I travelled straight down to Herefordshire to get Dasha and bring him back home.”

In 2016, it became a legal requirement for all owners to microchip their dog, yet in the last year, Herefordshire Council has received reports of 231 stray dogs, the majority of which were not microchipped, Dave said.

Earlier this year figures were released by West Mercia Police that showed dog thefts have soared in Shropshire over the past three years.

A total of 87 dogs were reported as stolen to the force in 2016, up from 55 in 2015 and more than double the 38 reported in 2014.

Dog Theft Action, a UK charity which helps victims, said criminals were targeting the animals for profit, illegal fighting purposes or for breeding, occasionally ransoming them back in return for reward money.

Nicola Barlow, chairwoman of the charity, said crime was virtually unheard of in 2002, when her own dog was stolen from her Midlands home, but it was now widespread with calls constantly coming in.

But Daniel Butler, spokesman for West Mercia Police, said although the number of thefts appear to be rising in the Shropshire area, it could be attributed to a change in the way the force records crimes as well as an increased awareness of dog thefts.