Family offers £20,000 reward for safe return of missing dachshunds

The two black and tan miniature dachshunds, Pipin and Purdey, went missing from their home at Nether Silton, Thirsk, at around 2pm on Saturday, January 23.

Their owner, Ruth Benson, said the dogs were in the garden and it was not unusual for them to go rabbiting in a field by their house, but they always returned within an hour.

• 'I have nothing left' says pensioner whose dogs were snatched

She said: “It got to teatime and I was getting worried, there was no sign of them anywhere.

“We’d gone out looking for them at teatime, all through the night, and we haven’t stopped looking since.

“We have had the whole of the village looking out for them, every farmer on the estate is looking, everybody knows that we have them.

“But there has been absolutely nothing, no sign of them at all which is why I think somebody has picked them up.

“Every single day you read about dogs getting stolen and it is just awful.”

The family have owned both dogs from being puppies – Pipin, aged eight, is the mother of Purdey who is three and a half.

Ruth’s two children, Ruby eight, and Poppy, five, are both missing the dogs terribly – particularly Ruby who was very ill last year and relied on Purdey to help her through.

Ruth said: “Purdey especially is Ruby’s dog through and through, she is her best friend, she really is.

“Ruby was really, really poorly this time last year and Purdey was literally the only thing that got her hopes up at the end of her operation.

“She is just her best friend, they do everything together.”

The family is offering a £20,000 reward for the safe return of Pipin and Purdey.

A fellow dachshund owner has donated £5,000 towards the amount and the family are using their life savings for the rest.

Ruth said: “We didn’t want to do it, but they really are priceless to us.”

Anybody who knows anything about where the dogs are or who thinks they have seen them should contact Ruth on 07857-145746.