Delight for Sheffield family reunited with missing dog

The Gribben family were devastated after Springer Spaniel Lily, was stolen from outside their shop on the Moor last Wednesday.

She was in the back of her owners’ 67-plate red Audi A3 saloon when the car was stolen at around 5.30pm.

Josh Gribben who launched a huge social media campaign to find his much loved family pet with his girlfriend Anna Rae Bishop has thanked the police and volunteers who took part in the appeal.

Josh, who runs the Framework Gallery on the Moor with his dad Terry and mum Mary said:

“We cannot even begin to comprehend how grateful we are that Lily is back home with us.

“Thank you to everyone who has shared our posts far and wide, it would not have been possible without all of you. It has restored our faith in humanity after such a cruel incident.

“A huge thank you to South Yorkshire Police who found her. We were so relieved after they called us.

“We are so lucky that Lily is home and safe.”

Josh said somebody had been sold their pet the day after she was stolen and had called the police after seeing the huge online appeal to have her returned

The car has still not been found.

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"The police went out, looked at the photos and confirmed it was her more or less,” he said.

“They gave us a ring and we went out to fetch her last night. It sounds like the people who had her genuinely did buy her.

The police said it didn’t look like Lily had been mistreated, added Josh.

“She seems fine – we are going to take her to the vets just in case. She doesn’t seem traumatised.

“She was obviously really happy to be back she was going nuts when she saw us. It’s fantastic to have her back.

”We’ve been at it full time.

I’ve not had a drink since she went missing just in case I got a phone call saying she’d been found.

Usually over Christmas we like to have a good time but there has been none of that this year, we have been worried sick.

Lilly is my mum and dad’s dog but we all work together at the family business so she belongs to us all really. She is part of the family."

Josh and Anna emailed more than 100 vets, pet shops and lost animal charities during the appeal to find Lily.

“Once again, thank you to everyone who has helped us find Lily.”

"We have had so many volunteers coming forward to help us look for her when we have had a potential siting

“During our search we became aware of how many dogs are stolen and we are absolutely horrified. We truly hope that other owners are as lucky as us and get their beloved pets back.”

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