A springer spaniel stolen from her Perthshire home has been reunited with her owners thanks to social media.
Effie was unwittingly bought by a Fife man after being taken from outside Fingask Castle.
After becoming suspicious that his new pet may have been filched from her rightful family, he then spotted an appeal for the petite pooch on Facebook.
Now three weeks after she was taken, the two-year-old bitch is happy at home after the man made the “heartbreaking” decision to hand her back.
Owner Helen Murray Threipland, who was celebrating her birthday on Wednesday, said her children Sacha, Beatrice and Peter were delighted to have Effie home.
“They are thrilled to have her back,” she said.
“And it couldn’t have been a better birthday present for me. She’s a member of our family.”
She said the man who bought Effie had originally gone to look at a car for sale in Dundee.
“He was buying a car and he saw the man had a springer spaniel in his vehicle. He told him he’d just lost one.
“The man said he could buy that one for £350 and that she was seven months old. He thought this was too much and paid £300.
“He had her for four or five days before he realised. He thought she might be a stolen dog because she wasn’t responding to the name the man had given for her, which was Lady.
“He then saw her on Facebook.”
Mrs Murray Threipland said without the internet appeals it was doubtful whether they would have got Effie back.
“That’s the wonderful thing about social media,” she said.
“Otherwise they (the man’s family) would have had no idea and I’d have lost her forever.
“They were so wonderful and honest to have returned her. She had settled in and was happy.
“They had already fallen in love with her and it was heartbreaking for them to lose her their dog had recently died and they were thrilled to have her.”
Mrs Murray Threipland thanked the many people online who tried to help find Effie.
“So many people have been looking for her all over the place,” she said.
It is believed Effie was taken by three people in a white Transit van after being found near the A90 on July 7.
Using the number etched on Effie’s collar, they called the castle to ask the dog’s name before spiriting her away.
They were described as a girl with tattoos and two men in their 20s with dark/black hair.
Police Scotland is continuing to investigate the theft.