Stolen puppy is traced after Gazette’s appeal
Jacky and Frankie - Credit: Archant
An overjoyed owner of a puppy that was stolen at a charity microchipping event has been reunited with her pet pooch after a member of the public recognised him from an appeal launched by the Gazette last week.
Jacky Donaghy was left “devastated” when seven-month old Chihuahua, Frankie, was stolen from a Dogs Trust van while the organisation was microchipping local dogs as part of a community event on the Gascoyne Estate, Homerton on March 10.
But Dalston construction manager, Tony O’Brien, spotted the dog on Thursday last week, on a building site in nearby Woodberry Downs Estate, Finsbury Park, and handed him into the police.
He said: “I asked local people if they recognised the dog and then popped into the newsagent who said he was in that day’s newspaper.
“There was a also bit of irony as I was in the Gazette a couple of years ago because I lost my dog. It’s great that he has been reunited with his owner.”
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Ms Donaghy said: “They said to take him to the dog warden because the police don’t deal with strays anymore.
“But the chap had brought in a copy of the Gazette and because he showed them the article, they were able to scan Frankie and get my number. Of course I went straight out to get him – it was the longest three miles ever.”
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Miss Donaghy who works for the Dogs Trust in Wakely Street, Islington, added: “It was just a blur after that, getting him and having him meet my other two dogs, he was over the moon.
“He’s never going to leave my sight now. I have been through absolute hell for the last 10 days.
Miss Donaghy said she thought Frankie had been stolen but then abandoned after her appeal went global on Facebook and Twitter – even getting support from people as far away as America and Australia.
of support.
She said: “Some of them really kept me going; I thought I was never going to see him again. Anybody who has had a dog taken from them should let the whole world know. If these dogs become too known there is less chance of them being stolen in the future.”
