An urgent appeal has been issued over a remaining missing Basset Hound it is believed could be in Greater Manchester.
It follows the recovery of four of the breed of dog stolen in the East Midlands two months ago, at addresses in the region in the past four days.
The five dogs - one male and four female - were stolen when thieves raided their kennels in the village of South Kilworth in Leicestershire, more than 100 miles away from where they were found, on Wednesday, February 17.
They are members of the only pack of working English basset hounds in the county.
Since then a huge social media campaign has been running appealing for information about their whereabouts.
And it has now been confirmed that four have been recovered this week after tip-offs from locals in Greater Manchester.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) yesterday revealed two of the dogs were recovered at an address in Wigan on Monday.
The force’s Leigh, Atheron and Hindley Facebook page said that “through the power of social media they were found at an address in Hindley and safely removed by officers.”
The Manchester Evening News understands this was three-year-old male, Landlord, and an 18 month-old female, called Banish.
Leicestershire Police have now confirmed the recovery of two other of the dogs, females Lattice, three, and Drama, 18 months, at another address in Greater Manchester on Saturday. The precise location has not been disclosed.
Though they said that "information was received that four of the dogs were at two separate locations in the Greater Manchester area."
A group who have been co-ordinating the campaign to find them on behalf of the dogs' owners said they received a call regarding a possible sighting and worked with police in both Leicestershire and Greater Manchester.
Then, on Monday, another witness also spoke with Beauty's Legacy - a voluntary group who help reunite lost and found animals with their owners - prior to the second discovery.
Today a spokeswoman for the group said the dogs were “in the process of being reunited with their owners.”
She said their owners were relieved to have them back but that they had “lost drastic amounts of weight and sustained injuries.”
And she said fears were growing for 18 month old female Bashful, who has still not been found.
The Leigh neighbourhood policing team today issued an appeal for information about Bashful.
In a post this afternoon they said: “The attached image is an outstanding stolen dog from a burglary in Leicestershire.
“This follows yesterday's post regarding two Basset Hounds being recovered by officers.
“This outstanding dog has very distinctive markings on her face.
“We believe it may be in the Greater Manchester area, possibly in the Wigan borough.
“If you have any information/any sightings of the dog please contact us using 101 or via the GMP Wigan East email address - WiganEast@gmp.police.uk ”
Sergeant Paul Archer, from the Harborough and Wigston Neighbourhood Policing Area in Leicestershire, said: “I am pleased that four of the dogs have been found.
“I would like to thank both the public for their assistance in locating the dogs and colleagues from Greater Manchester Police for recovering them.
“However, I would still ask anyone with information regarding the whereabouts of the outstanding dog to come forward. Any information you have could help us.”
Bashful is described as having a white right side with a black shoulder blade and a black patch on the ribcage.
The front half of her back leg is white with a white paw.
She has a white left side with a black patch behind the shoulder blade stretching from the top of the back and down to the elbow.
She has a brown head, long brown ears, brown eyes, with dark patches around eyes, and a very thin white stripe from top of the head down the middle of the face, spreading out to cover the muzzle, nose, and top lip.
Lisa Dean, from Beauty’s Legacy, told Manchester Evening News : “It just shows these types of campaigns work. Social media can be a really powerful tool in situations like these.
“I just want to thank everyone who got behind it and came to us with information. I think people are getting braver about doing that now.
“The police have also been phenomenal, in both Leicestershire and Manchester and have worked together to help us get these dogs back.
“But we don’t want people to take their foot off the pedal.
“We are asking them to be extremely alert particularly in the Greater Manchester area and to keep a lookout for this final missing dog.”
