Puppy Ruby is latest dognap victim

A grandmother spoke of her anger today after becoming the latest person in the region to be hit by dognapping.

Julie Baker's American bulldog puppy was stolen from the back garden of her son's home in Titford Road, Langley.

"I'm so devastated," said Mrs Baker, of Cokeland Place. "I have done everything I can to get her back and she has just vanished. She was such a gentle giant.

"My main worry is she has been taken to breed too early and that could be dangerous.

"There has got to be someone who knows where she is."

Thieves are believed to have climbed a fence to steel the ten-month-old dog, called Ruby, on May 16. Since then Mrs Baker has made a radio appeal and set up a Facebook page in a bid to get her beloved pet back.

"I don't think people realise the devastation they are causing when they take a dog," added the 48-year-old grandmother-of-five, who used to work as a retail assistant.

"I can't get over it. I'm struggling to sleep and I'm having to go to the doctors to get medication for stress. So many people are backing our search but she is nowhere to be seen."

A cash reward is being offered for information leading to the return of Ruby.

There have been a number of cases of cases of dognapping in the West Midlands in recent months prompting warnings for dog owners to be on their guard.

A large-scale campaign has been started on social media sites to find Koda and Denali, two husky dogs stolen from a home in Dudley. Another husky was reported stolen from a home off Green Lane, in Birchills, Walsall. And in September, nine Dogue De Bordeaux puppies and their mother, worth £10,000 in total, were taken from an unlocked shed in Tipton.

Anyone with information on Ruby's whereabouts should call 0776 1732984.