Seven puppies stolen from home days after Christmas leaving family ‘devastated’

Dorset Police are appealing for witnesses of the theft of the seven lurcher puppies

Police have appealed for any witnesses of the burglary to come forward (Dorset Police)

Two people have been arrested after seven puppies were stolen from a family just days after Christmas, leaving them “devastated”.

The lurcher puppies were stolen in a burglary of a rural property in North Dorset on Saturday evening between 10:50pm and 11:10pm.

A 28-year-old man from East Dorset and a 22-year-old woman from Wimborne have now been arrested on suspicion of burglary in the Shroton area.

But the pups have still not been found, and enquiries to find the dogs are ongoing.

A picture released by the police shows the lurchers - a term for crossbred dog typically a mix of a sighthound with another breed of dog - huddled together before they were stolen.

“These puppies are only five weeks old and are still reliant on their mother to feed and survive so we are keen to reunite them,” police constable Sebastian Haggett, of Dorset Police’s Rural Crime Team said.

“The family involved in this reported theft are devastated and we wish to do all we can to get these family pets home,” he added.

Police are looking to hear from anyone who may have seen any suspicious activity in the area, or any residents living nearby who have doorbell or CCTV cameras and motorists with dashcams.

“We are particularly interested in the activity of a white Audi A1 that was seen in the vicinity,” PC Haggett said.

Lurcher dogs are not a specific breed, but a term for a dog bred between a sighthound and another dog.

The aim of the cross was partly to produce a dog with the athleticism of a sighthound and the intelligence of another breed, which was beneficial for poaching.