A group of thieves stole seven bulldog puppies from a home in Wigan earlier this week, on February 2. The puppies were just seven weeks old.
The owners, Tammy McKenna and Paul Crook, were heartbroken after finding that their animals were taken. The couple was asleep when the thieves ransacked their home, and they didn’t realize that anything was wrong until they were woken by police in the early hours of the morning.
Police did not find many clues in their initial investigation, but the family launched an appeal on social media, offering a £1,000 reward to anyone who could provide information leading to the return of their animals.
It took only a day for a witness in Liverpool to notice the dogs at a house in the area. Police were called to the home, and recovered the animals.
Ms. McKenna told the Manchester Evening News that she and Paul are incredibly relieved to have their animals back.
“I put the appeal out on Facebook and the local papers have interviewed me and it ended up going far and wide. It had 40k shares just on my page. The thieves were caught on numerous CCTV cameras near me so they were identified from that,” McKenna explained.
“People saw them and contacted the police. They found out the address as someone knew who it was and told us,” she added.
She said that the dogs were treated poorly when they were being held by the thieves.
“They came back absolutely filthy because they had just been sat there in a cage and rolling around in the mess. We managed to get them back with the help of social media,” McKenna said.
A spokesperson for GMP said confirmed that two men and a woman were arrested by officers the day after the burglary.
“Seven English Bulldogs were taken and were later discovered at an address in Liverpool after receiving a report of puppies being carried into an address on Marina Avenue in Merseyside. Two 21-year-old men and a 20-year-old woman have been arrested on suspicion of burglary. They have since been released under investigation pending further enquiries,” the spokesperson said.
Police are still investigating the incident and asking the public for more information. If you know anything about this incident, you can call 101 quoting incident number 602 of 03/02/2021. Alternatively, contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
