DOGNAPPED

Her dream had finally come true – but was it going to be cruelly snatched away?

It was love at first sight. As soon as our daughter laid eyes on the little bundle of toffee coloured fluff, that was it. There was no way we were leaving the dog rescue shelter without him.

Grace had been asking us for months – every day without fail – just to make sure we didn’t forget what she wanted for her sixth birthday. She didn’t want any other presents. Not toys or games or electronic devices.

She just wanted a dog. Any dog. Big, small, loud, quiet, a pure-bred pedigree or a mutt with a little bit of everything – it didn’t matter to Grace.

‘No pedigrees under our roof,’ the shelter manager grinned. ‘Although this little pup does look a bit like a Cavapoo.’

Grace was oblivious, laughing and stroking the puppy as he ran in circles and barked excitedly, licking her face and hands. She looked up at us, her eyes shining.

‘Can we take him home? Can we, please?’

I smiled at my husband. ‘What do you think, Mark?’

He knelt down to give the puppy a scratch behind its ears.

‘I think it’s going to be a very happy birthday,’ he said with a smile.

‘So we can keep him?’ Grace said breathlessly. ‘Thank you Mummy and Daddy! He’s perfect! What sort of dog is he?’

I knelt down to stroke him too, his fur soft beneath my fingers. ‘He’s a rescue dog, Grace. ‘We rescued him?’ ‘We did. He’s going to come and live with us now.’

The shelter manager, a friendly white-haired woman in her early 60s, led us to her office to fill out the paperwork.