Pedigree show dogs stolen from Coventry hotel

[dutchman]

The dogs were in the country especially for the show



Two pedigree show dogs have been stolen from a hotel in Coventry this weekend.

The owner of Japanese Shiba Inu dogs Twix and Rafa was left devastated this morning (December 16) when she went to check on their prized pooches and found them gone.

Both dogs had been left in a van outside the Quality Inn hotel in Allesley while their owner slept and CCTV footage of the car park showed thieves breaking into the van and taking the cages containing the dogs.

And, according to a friend of the owner, Tracy Shelly, the whole incident lasted just four minutes.

Tracy's dogs were in the same vehicle, a Fiat Diablo, having travelled over from Ireland for the Ladies Kennel Association General Championship Dog Show at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) this weekend.

Speaking to CoventryLive, Tracy revealed that she and friend Emer Wright - the owner of Twix and Rafa - suffered a huge shock this morning. She said: "It's not been a great morning, quite frankly we're devastated.

"We went to bed at around 9.30pm, and we think that they were taken at around 1am.

"We went downstairs at 6.30am and they were gone from the van. You can see that the lock on the van has been damaged, and the crates have been lifted out of the van with the dogs inside and just taken."

The dog owners were able to watch hotel CCTV and were shocked by what they saw.

Though it was dark, a silver vehicle is believed to have parked up next to their van.

In a matter of minutes, they had taken the crates and left. Tracy said: "There is nothing on the side of the van that would suggest what's inside. They knew what they were looking for.

"Earlier in the day, we'd taken the dogs for a walk, so maybe they were watching us then.

"The dog show is on here every year, and the hotel advertises as a dog friendly hotel, so it would be well known that dogs would be here this weekend."

[rebbonk]

Gorgeous dogs, but they can be a handful.

[rebbonk]

They have been returned to the owner.