How Glasgow pulled together to solve a 'dognapping'
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| mage copyright Kirsteen Marshall |
A dog owner has hit out the thief who stole her family pet after a community pulled together to rescue him.
Six-year-old Shih Tau Bichon cross Blake was stolen from outside a shop in the Gorbals area of Glasgow at about 21:25 on Monday.Devastated Kirsteen Marshall quickly launched a social media campaign to find him.
And after a frantic 48 hours the pet was tracked down to a house in another part of the city.
'Wrong dog, wrong city'
The little white dog was reunited with its owners at 02:00 on Thursday.Ms Marshall sent out a warning to anyone else who would consider stealing a dog.
She said: "Let it be known that the people of Glasgow will not give up. Wrong dog, wrong community, wrong city. We did this the old school way and it worked."
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In her first message on social media, 12 hours after Blake was taken, she made a heartfelt appeal.
She said: "This is a message to the people that took Blake. In only 24 hours we have managed to access numerous CCTV footage which shows very clearly the man who took him.
"It shows the white Ford that assisted you and we have a still of your face which I am reluctant to put on social media because I don't want you to be hurt.
"I need you to know that I am not interested in you being charged or persecuted or hurt in any way but I also need you to know that we have an army of social media friends who are helping to bring Blake home. And we have the amazing people of Glasgow who are behind this."
She said she thought the man who took Blake wanted to sell him for money and offered "way more money than he is worth" for his safe return.
Doing it 'the old school way' - how the community got Blake home
Monday 21:25 - Blake stolen from Nisa store on Ballater Street in The Gorbals, Glasgow.Tuesday 09:10 - Bring Blake Home social media appeal launched offering £5,000 reward.
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| Image copyright kirsteen marshall |
Wednesday 09:26 - Kirsteen Marshall posts heartfelt appeal warning "an army" of friends is hunting for the missing dog.
Wednesday 11:15 - CCTV of a man carrying Blake away from the shop is released.
Thursday 00:05 - Kirsten reveals the man walked right past her front door carrying the stolen dog and that he may have then got on a number seven bus heading to Govanhill and Possil. They are now looking at CCTV from the bus and knocking on doors in the area.
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| Blake is home! We rescued him from a house in Possil tonight |
"It was indeed social media efforts that led us right to the door of where Blake was being held."
She has promised to return all donations made to a fundraising page, or pass them on to an animal charity.
And she told BBC Scotland news: "I am exhausted. I haven't slept in 50 hours. But I am so relieved and over the moon that Blake is home with us."
