An Armley mother has been left severely shaken after burglars broke into her home as she slept and snatched her two pet puppies.
Kirsty Rose, a mother of two, was woken up by her 12-year-old son on Thursday at around 8am, who was baffled as to why the back door was wide open and their dogs missing.
Kirsty says her heart sank as she raced downstairs: "We've never ran down them stairs as quick."
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Kirsty says she "instantly knew what had happened" but was greeted with a shocking mess when she got downstairs.
She said: "The house was a mess, drawers flung open, personal letters everywhere."
A lot of high value material was also missing.
A Nintendo switch, Nintendo Switch lite, a Leopard Killstar bag full of makeup, a camouflage Vans bag, house keys, work keys and van keys had been stolen.
But it was the irreplaceable lives that had been stolen that broke Kirsty's heart the most: "The absolute heartbreak of not knowing where our dogs where was soul destroying."
The burglars had stolen Ozzy, a 9 week old American bulldog and Betty, a 1 year old French bulldog.
The crime had a profound effect on Kirsty, whose mind raced to imagine what else may have happened if her son, who struggles to sleep through the night, had gone downstairs and encountered the thugs.
Kirsty said: "It absolutely terrifies me to think what would have happened if my 12 year old son had disturbed them?
"What would they have done to him in his own home!"
Kirsty, who has a sizable following and engagement on social media took to Facebook and launched an appeal to find her dogs and those responsible.
Her first post bumped 10,000 shares in little time, and it paid off.
At around 9pm Kirsty received a call from a blocked number, and the person on the other side of the line told her he knew where her dogs where.
She said: "I had an anonymous phone call it sounded like a young lad (with a) Leeds accent"
The caller asked if the call was being recorded, before telling Kirsty her dogs were "On Cedar Road, in a bin yard with a green gate around it, and in a box"
Kirsty and her partner raced to Cedar Road where they found their dogs, alive but bloated.
Ozzy and Betty are still battling digestive problems since they were found, and Kirsty says this is because they were fed junk food by the thugs.
And although Kirsty has got her pals back, the whole ordeal has injured her mentally, emotionally and psychologically.
She is scared all the time. She says: "We feel violated.
"I'm on edge, I can't sleep, I'm repeatedly checking on my children and the dogs."
And as long as the burglars roam free, Kirsty says she is unlikely to recover.
"I didn't think it'd affect me to this degree.
"I'm a strong headed person but I won't lie, I'm paranoid."
But it is not all gloom and doom as Kirsty is thankful to her neighbours who sent her flowers, gave her cameras and everyone who shared her Facebook appeal, which she believes put heat on the criminals.
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