By Gary Cooper

AN ANGUS couple left heartbroken after their beloved dog was stolen have been reunited with their pet.

Four-year-old English springer spaniel Rosie is now adjusting to life back at home near Kirriemuir with her owners John and Jacqui Holliday after she was snatched from her kennel last week.

Their emotional press appeals for help to trace their liver-and-white companion gave them a much-needed breakthrough after two vain days of searching for her.

Mr Holliday yesterday told of the moment he received a call on Saturday morning from a man in Dundee who believed he had been sold their dog.

The concerned caller said he had read about Rosie’s theft and got in touch with the couple after her details matched up with his new addition.

“Rosie had been stolen on Thursday morning and this guy got her at four o’clock that afternoon,” Mr Holliday said.

“When he read about Rosie having been recently clipped, he noticed that the dog he had bought had also been clipped.

“Seemingly, the guy who sold Rosie to him had named her Jess and said she was two-and-a-half.

“He knew he had Rosie because the dog hadn’t been responding to Jess but, when he called her Rosie, her head shot round.”

Mr and Mrs Holliday, who live on Kinnordy Estate, met the man at Sainsbury’s car park in the city before following him to his home, five minutes’ drive from the supermarket.

Mr Holliday warned his wife not to build up her hopes in case the dog was not theirs.

“Rosie just went ballistic when she saw Jacqui,” Mr Holliday said. “We knew instantly it was her.

“We had been so miserable at the thought of never seeing her again and all of a sudden the gloom had lifted when she was there.

“I have never seen so many tears shed when we were reunited.”

Mr Holliday said the man who called them only learned about the dog’s fate when he read about it in the press.

“I am so mad at someone having stolen Rosie but so happy at getting her back,” he went on.

“This guy who bought her in good faith deserves a medal. He’s a real hero for coming forward as he didn’t have to.

“He said he loved his other dogs and couldn’t see us going through what we were enduring.”

Mr Holliday, a gamekeeper on the Angus estate, said dogs, Teal and Jilly, who had been left behind by the thief, had pined for Rosie.

“There is such a difference in them at Rosie coming home, it’s unbelievable,” he said.

Following the incident, the dogs are now staying with the couple in the house and are no longer in their kennels.

They said getting Rosie back meant they could finally look forward to emigrating to Cyprus with their pets—they leave on Saturday.

Mr Holliday called into Kirriemuir police office on Saturday to alert officers to Rosie’s return.

A Tayside Police spokesman said inquiries into the theft of Rosie were continuing.