9:47am Thursday 2nd November 2006
THE owners of border terrier Charlie who returned home on Sunday after being missing for 20 days believe there could be a sinister reason for his loss.
Charlie disappeared while on a walk with his owner Liz Carr in woods near their home in Oare on October 9.
When he returned after three weeks, there was sand and dust in his coat.
Mrs Carr and her husband Mike believed the terrier had been trapped in a badger sett or fox hole until he lost enough weight to get out.
But now Charlie's vet Julia Hayward has suggested that the terrier may have been dognapped.
After giving Charlie a thorough inspection on Monday, Mrs Hayward told Mrs Carr that Charlie had hair missing from the back of his legs.
Mrs Hayward thought he might have been kept in some form of harness.
She wondered if he had been stolen and then dumped back near home after the thieves discovered he had been micro-chipped.
The dog would have been no good for breeding because he had been neutered as a pup.
Border terrier puppies sell for anything up to £500 and there is concern about a growing trade in dog-snatching and demanding high ransoms from owners.
Mr and Mrs Carr are delighted that their pet is back home.
So is their daughter Katharine who recently had her third birthday.
She had told her parents that the only present that she wanted was Charlie back.
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