A woman who had her beloved dogs stolen is now being terrorised by anonymous phone calls from the alleged thieves threatening to "slice their throats".
Katie Shakeshaft claims her pets Mopsy and Scrappy, who are both Jack Russell-Yorkshire terrier mix breeds, were taken from her farm on Camp Road in Garswood, near Wigan, on Wednesday April 13.
Since the theft, she has received several anonymous calls from people claiming to have taken the pups and threatening to hurt them if she doesn't £1,000 ransom money, the Liverpool Echo reports.
Katie said: “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.”
The dog owner, who described the three-year-old and five-year-old dogs as "like family" to her, said the threatening phone calls began later that day after she posted a missing dogs appeal on Facebook.
She said: “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.”
The following day, Katie left the farm for a walk to see if she could find the dogs herself. When she returned an hour later, a number of her boyfriend’s tools - worth around £1,000 - were stolen from the site. She says the incident has made her "scared for her life".
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’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.”
Katie said she has no idea who has taken the dogs or why, but hopes they will be returned to her soon. She added: “I don't have a clue why someone is doing this to me, but it’s absolutely getting out of hand.
“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.”
Merseyside Police are investigating the incident.
A spokesperson 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.
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