Dundee pensioner Leonard Ormond fought back tears as he was reunited with his beloved puppy Rosco on Thursday evening.
The border terrier was stolen from the garden of Leonard’s Napier Drive home on August 15.
But he was reunited with his owner after being handed into an animal rescue shelter in Luton on Tuesday.
This is the moment Leonard and Rosco were finally reunited, after Leonard’s son Gordon Ormond arrived back in Dundee with the dog.
After their reunion, Leonard admitted he had feared the worst.
He said: “I had given up, to be honest.
“The biggest thing was hoping that whoever had him would look after him.”
Leonard believes Rosco was handed in to the authorities because of the publicity surrounding his theft.
Appeals were shared more than 1 million times on social media.
“It’s fantastic – how am I going to thank all these people?” he said.
Leonard’s niece Gill also paid tribute to everyone who helped in the search for Rosco.
She singled out Nicky Beaton and Katie Jane McCandless, who run Missing Pets pages on Facebook that were key to spreading awareness of Rosco’s theft.
Meanwhile, Leonard’s local, The Whip Inn, is planning a “Welcome Home Rosco” event on Saturday in aid of charity.
