Callous thieves grabbed the friendly pet's collar in Morrison Court, Broadfield and led him into nearby woodland on June 3.

And Donna Hughes, 35, from Broadfield said that it has left her family devastated.

Tearful Donna said: "I just want him back. We haven't slept all week, I can't eat, my husband hasn't been to work all week because he's just looking for him.

"We'd give anything just to get him back. It's broken my heart."
The 21-month-old dog has a distinctive mark inside his left ear – a nick about seven or eight centimetres long.
He was wearing a thick black leather collar with square silver studs at the time.

And the heartless thieves even had the gall to pretend they were friends of the Hughes family and were taking him home.

Donna said: "One of the men said to my neighbour 'it's ok, I know where he lives', before he took him away."

The neighbour described the thieves as three young white males and a white female with a baby buggy and added that she'd know them if she saw them again.

And Donna reckons that her loving pooch is so friendly he wouldn't have made a fuss when the strangers led him away.

She said: "He's just so soft. He isn't a nasty dog, he's been brought up with five kids so he would've just gone with them."

And Donna said that the miserable kids, aged between 6-16 had been searching for the dog all weekend.

The family's worries were made worse because their pet has a painful hip problem and can't be walked very far.

Donna worried that without his medication he would be in a lot of pain.

And she added that their other family dog, who normally shares a basket with his missing kennel mate, is as heartbroken as the rest of the family.

She said: "It's just like a part's missing, our other dog doesn't know what to do with himself.

"He's just so loving, he just brings so much to our family."

Donna registered her pooch with the missing pets bureau as well as calling the police and the RSPCA and putting posters up around Crawley.

A police spokesman said: "A lady reported a 'lost dog' on June 3 – and that is how the matter was left until this morning (Monday June 9) when we got another call from her with additional information.

"With this information we will no doubt take a fresh look."
If anyone has any information please contact Donna or her husband Paul on: 07980 827 819.