Twiglet, the miniature dachshund who was stolen by a masked man during a burglary, is safe and well and has been reunited with her owner, police have said.
Officers in Essex launched a dog-hunt, releasing a video of the theft and appealing for information after an intruder took the 16-month-old dachshund from her home in Catmere End, Saffron Walden, at about 3pm on Wednesday.
Police said Twiglet was “reunited with her happy owner” on Thursday, thanks to a member of the public who got in touch after seeing the appeal.
The spokesperson said: “Twiglet’s owner is grateful to the public for all their support and sharing the appeal, which was seen by a member of the public who was able to reunite Twiglet with its owner. They are truly grateful and happy that their dog is safely back with them, unharmed.”
According to the BBC, Twiglet’s owner, Jo Vindis, said they were “elated” to be reunited, adding that, “without the video, we probably would never have seen her again”.
She told the broadcaster: “Well, we do love our dogs, don’t we? I think it just resonated with everyone with a dog, or even without, just how someone from your family – just snatched out of your home – it’s just horrible.”
The BBC said Vindis suspected the intruder was targeting the dog because nothing else was taken.
She told the broadcaster of her and her partner’s “disbelief that it happened at all – obviously we haven’t let her out of our sight”.
“Twiglet seems her normal self, but she was quite shaken last night – she doesn’t seem too traumatised by it all.”
Reports said the person who returned the dog had spotted it being offered for sale. They had pretended not to realise it was Twiglet and went to collect her, paying £700 before passing her on to Vindis.
Police said they were continuing their investigation, but no arrests had been made.
“We’re continuing to appeal for witnesses or anyone with information that might be able to help our investigation into the burglary,” Essex police said on Friday.
“As part of our investigation, a review of the internal CCTV cameras showed a man smashing the patio door.” They said the intruder was wearing a black face mask and grey hi-vis jacket.
Burglar alarms sounded after he smashed the door, and the dog began barking and panicking. The intruder appeared to grab her and wrestled the crying dog to the ground, before picking her up and leaving. At one point, he appeared to clamp her jaws shut to stop her barking.
