Callous thieves have stolen a dog and her seven puppies from a home in Emley.

And their owner Deborah Hirst believes the two-week-old pups – which are Cocker Spaniel and Patterdoodle cross – were stolen to order.

Deborah said: “They were in the porch and the porch door was open so Kayla, their mum, could go to the toilet in the garden.

“The door to the house was locked.

“When I came home they were gone and the pups’ father Charlie was going mad.

“He had been in the other part of the house.

“Its horrible to see him so distraught; we all are.”

Deborah said the pups were feeding well from their mum and were only two weeks old.

She said: “We took Kayla in from a foster family and already had Charlie.

“Before we knew it she was in heat. She is only young at 18 months but was doing well with her pups.

“We had decided to keep one of the puppies. There is one which was completely cream and Kayla is black but another was chocolate coloured so we hadn’t decided yet.

“We don’t even know what to call the breed as their mum is a Cocker Spaniel and dad a Patterdoodle.

“We think they may be worth £250 each but we hadn’t really thought much because they are so young and we were going to keep them until eight to 10 weeks.”

Police are investigating the thefts.

Det Insp Jim Griffiths, of Huddersfield CID. said: “This is an unusual crime. It may be that the offenders simply picked this property for these animals.

“We would urge anyone who is offered the pets or sees them advertised for sale to contact us to investigate further.”

Anyone with information should contact police on 101.

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