A DOG owner is offering a £1,000 reward for the return of six pedigree Cocker Spaniels - one of which was pregnant - stolen from his allotment.

Craig Dougdale said he was sickened after finding his beloved had been taken from a large kennel on the Howlish Allotments in Coundon.

The dogs are valued at about £5,000, but Mr Dougdale said the real value was much more than pounds and pence.

Dora, the three-year-old fox red spaniel who was pregnant, belonged to Mr Dougdale's five-year-old daughter.

He said: "She is devastated, this is the first time she has experienced something like this, Dora was her pet."

The dogs were stolen from the kennel sometime overnight on Saturday, April 27.

The thieves smashed a window to get in and then mysteriously splashed a liquid pigeon feed over the broken glass.

Mr Dougdale said he believes one of the thieves may have cut himself on the shard and used the liquid to try and wash away blood.

It is believed the thieves parked on Hillside Road, crossed a field and cut through a fence to get into the allotment.

Mr Dougdale said: "We have been targeted deliberately; this wasn't just a chance thing.

"They must have been here for a good half-an-hour, I would urge anyone who saw anything to contact the police."

A white van had been seen driving through the allotment earlier that day but it is not know if it had any link to the burglary.

Mr Dougdale is now offering a £1,000 reward for any information handed to police that leads to the dogs' return.

He said: "It's sickened all of us, my family and I just want the dogs back. “They were our pets and my working dogs, I took them with me everyday."

The other stolen Spaniels were a ten-month and 18 month-old golden bitches, four-and-a-half year-old black and tan bitch, five-year-old chocolate-coloured bitch and a black dog aged 11 years.

Anyone with information on the theft or the whereabouts of the dogs is asked to contact police in Bishop Auckland on 101.