Ransom paid for ex-show Whippets safe return

Jan 29 2010 By Dave Himelfield

FAMILY was forced to pay a ransom for the return of their stolen dogs.

Three prize-winning whippets belonging to Barbara and David Robinson, of Outlane, were snatched from their home on New Year’s Eve.

The Robinsons, who had been the victim of ‘dog-nappers’ before, feared the worst and told police.

But following a tip-off to Dog Lost – a website used to trace lost and stolen dogs – their son, Roger, was ordered by an anonymous woman to a drop-off point at Brent Cross, near London.

Roger had put his number on the website and the woman had phoned him up, but would not give her name or number.

He contacted the police but said they did not want to get involved at this stage.

So Roger went and met a shadowy man and woman and was asked to pay £100 cash for ‘expenses’.

Roger was then handed six-year-old bitch Alice, six-year-old Timmy, and 12-year-old Jill, all of which were hungry and dehydrated.

The whippets were reunited with their family on January 22.

Jill had been stolen three years ago but was found dumped in Rochdale 18 months later.

It is thought the whippets were stolen as part of a series of dog thefts on December 31 across Yorkshire and Lancashire.

The thieves had climbed over the family’s garage before snatching the dogs from their kennel.