Dog stolen from Newark found 200 miles away after appeal

Boy vanished from the farm where he was allowed to wander freely

A stolen dog has been found 200 miles away from his home in Nottinghamshire.

Boy, a one-year-old German Shepherd, disappeared from his owner's land at Girton near Newark-on-Trent on 30 November.

The owners contacted missing animal charity Beauty's Legacy, which traced him to the Southampton area using his microchip.

Charity founder Lisa Dean said: "The owners were over the moon. The whole family had missed him so much."

Boy's disappearance was reported to police

Ms Dean said Boy lived on a farm and had freedom to roam.

"One day he just vanished," she said. "It was reported to police but as there was no direct evidence of theft, there wasn't much they could do.

"Once we were contacted, we spoke to neighbours, studied CCTV and put up posters and social media posts.

"But as Boy wasn't officially stolen, he wasn't going to appear on any statistics or records like that."

Two days ago, fortune smiled when the people who had unsuspectingly bought Boy tried to change his microchip, which prompted an alert to the company where it was registered.

Ms Dean said: "Between us and various agencies, including the police, we traced him and went down there to pick him up.

"He's in good condition, if a little tired, and of course it was really great to get him back to his home."

She added: "We get three or four calls a day about missing animals - not just dogs but cats, birds, goats - nothing is sacred.

"And the best thing people can do is get in touch and come forward, because the more we know, the better chance we have of getting these animals back where they belong."