Sick thugs have threatened to slice the throats of a woman’s pet dogs if she does not pay a ransom for their lives.
Katie Shakeshaft’s Jack Russell-Yorkshire terrier mix breeds Mopsy and Scrappy were stolen from her farm in Garswood, near Wigan, last week.
Since then, she has received anonymous phone calls threatening to cause them harm if she doesn’t pay a £1,000 ransom for their safe return, reports the Manchester Evening News.
Terrified Katie said: “I’m just very anxious and I’m actually at the point now where I’m just really angry about it. I just want my dogs back. I’m mentally exhausted and drained from it all. I don’t feel safe at all.
“I’ve had numerous phone calls from different people. I’ve had people telling me I’ll never see my dogs again, or demanding money.
“I was told that if I don’t pay £1,000 then they will slice their throats and throw them into the canal. It’s absolutely sickening. It’s causing me so much pain, it’s really concerning.
“We were on the farm all morning while we were seeing to the animals. I put the dogs in a house lorry, which has a living area, while I nipped out to the shops with my mum.
“When I got back two hours later, they were both gone.”
She said the threatening phone calls began after she posted a missing dog appeal on Facebook.
The following day, Katie left the farm for a walk to see if she could find the dogs herself but when she returned, a number of her boyfriend’s tools had been stolen from the site.
She added: “They must have waited until I left and then they came back to steal something else because I was only gone for like an hour.
They must have watched me leave and then stolen a grand’s worth of tools. We’ve not left the yard ever since as we’re scared about what will happen next
“I’ve not really slept properly for six days. Every noise causes me to look around.
“I don’t know if these people calling me are doing it as a prank or not. But it’s stressing me out and upsetting me. For all I know, they could actually have my dogs.”
A spokesperson for Merseyside Police said: “We were called to a report of the theft of two dogs in Ashton-in-Makerfield on Wednesday 13 April.
“It was reported that two Yorkshire Terriers were taken from the horse box of a property on Camp Road between 1 and 3pm."
“People have been asked to keep an eye out for the terrier cross tricolour dogs both in the area and online for sale. Anyone with information about this incident is asked to DM @MerPolCC or @CrimestoppersUK anonymously on 0800 555 111 quoting log 349.”
