Seven-year-old Henry Beckett and his four-year-old brother Archie have been left “inconsolable” after their family dogs were stolen.
Their 46-year-old mother, Catherine Beckett, tells of how devastated the two boys have been since their Cavapoos, Marnie and Rockie, vanished.
The family were holidaying in Spain while the incident occurred.
The dogs were being taken care of by a woman who boards pets at her home in Ripley, Surrey.
Since receiving the heartbreaking news, Catherine, has flown back to the UK to help search for the two pups.
“After she called us, I told the boys I was flying back to England and the dogs were running around a field being naughty”, Catherine says.
“But Henry was inconsolable, just so distraught. I’ve never seen him like that.”
Catherine has teamed up with Dogs Lost and an army of her friends to search for the two dogs. She has also launched a social media campaign.
“They are Henry’s dogs really, Marnie in particular. Whenever he’s had a stressful time at school, he comes home and cuddles the dogs. Dogs are the best healers.”
“He said to me, ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do if Marnie or Rockie don’t come back I will cry forever.”
Marnie and Rockie were inseparable, as Catherine tells, and have both been microchipped and neutered. They would have been one year old on August 1st.
When speaking about how their care-lady described the day of the event, Catherine says “she’d driven the dogs to Jury Farm in Horsley, parked up and opened the van door.
“She said she turned around to get their leads and when she turned back the two had vanished.”
In a plea to the public, Catherine urges “if anyone knows anything there is a substantial finder’s fee available for their safe return and we will go anywhere to pick them up.”
“It’s heartbreaking for us as parents because I don’t know how I’m going to explain to the boys about this.”
Karen Harding, a representative from Dog Lost, said “it’s just a complete mystery. We have posted everywhere and put a social media campaign together.
“So please if anyone knows anything they can call Dog Lost or call Crimestoppers anonymously, we just need to know what’s happened to them.”
She added that the number of dogs stolen in the UK is devastating, and they are now dealing with the added problems of scammers and hoaxers.
“These people need to realize how distressing it is for the owners in the first place but having people phoning up saying, ‘your dog’s dead’. It’s a nightmare for them,” she said.