"It's just cruel": Owners of missing dog in Kent plead for her safe return

  • Watch the video report by ITV Meridian's Tony Green

The search for a rescue dog, thought to have been stolen from a Kent village, has gone viral on social media.

Daisy was last seen at Upper Street in Hollingbourne, at around 8.50am on Monday 18 January.

Police investigating the suspected theft have issued a new CCTV image of a pickup truck that the pet cocker spaniel could have been bundled into.

Daisy was last seen at Upper Street in Hollingbourne on Monday 18 January Credit: ITV Meridian

It is alleged a man in a white flatbed truck stopped his vehicle and stole a white and tan cocker spaniel that was sitting outside an address.

The truck then left the scene up Hollingbourne Hill towards Bredgar and Sittingbourne.

Officers are appealing for dashcam footage to trace the truck and its driver. 

A white flatbed truck stopped outside the house

Pam and Bill Nash, Daisy's owners, say they only let the rescue dog out of their sight for a few seconds, but it was enough time for her to be taken. 

The cocker spaniel slipped out while looking for Pam, who had gone for a Covid test.

Bill Nash said: "She'd gone. I quickly checked she wasn't about. I had gone out to the road and there was no sign of her at all."

  • Pam and Bill Nash:

Colin Butcher, Pet Detective says there has been "a surge" in opportunistic dog theft.

He said: "My experience is they tend to keep their head down and the dog locked away for the first week just to get a feel for how many people are looking for that dog. Obviously they can't sell it if lots of people are looking for it to come up on a free ads page." 

  • Colin Butcher, Pet Detective:

A Facebook page, dedicated to Daisy's disappearance, has shared an appeal to find her hundreds of times.

Pam and Bill Nash say they hope it will help Daisy to be returned to them unharmed.

Pam says: "Please let us have her back. Please don't hurt her. She's too gentle. She is no use to them. She is spayed and she's old. It's just cruel."

Police are continuing their investigation.

Police Sergeant Craig Chalmers-Stevens said: "We would also like to hear from anyone, who has not yet spoken to the police, with CCTV or dashcam footage that shows the truck travelling between Hollingbourne, Bredgar and the Sittingbourne area between 8.30am and 9am on 18 January." 

Anybody with information is being asked to call Kent Police on 01622 604100, quoting reference 46/10049/21.