A puppy who had been missing from her home near Therfield for almost three weeks has been found by police who raided a Bedfordshire property earlier today.
English springer spaniel Clodagh, who is eight months old, was last seen at the Tyrrell family home - between Therfield village and the A505 - on Sunday, May 26.
Soon after, the family, including dad Jason - who is Clodagh's owner and an equine vet - and son Patrick, 18, began a social media campaign in a bid to find their much-loved dog.
Many people got in touch with possible sightings in the East Herts area, but none proved to be Clodagh - and the Tyrrells came to believe she had be stolen.
Patrick told the Crow: "The social media campaign was getting bigger and bigger, we hoped something would come of it and we are over the moon that it has, it's quite unbelievable."
Bedfordshire Police carried out a raid on an unrelated matter at a home in the county this morning, and Patrick said an officer recognised Clodagh from their Facebook posts.
He said: "We're over the moon, dad is so happy - she's gone back to going out on calls with dad straight away, but on a lead this time.
"I was delighted when I was told the news, it really is beyond belief.
"We want to say a huge thank you to everyone who shared posts and got the message out there about Clodagh. At the end of the day, it is because of the sharing that we got Clodagh back."
On their Facebook page, Beds Police said: "This morning we carried out a pre-planned operation in a property in Sandy. During a search we found a dog in the garden. Our officers recognised her as potentially being the English springer spaniel which had been recently missing from Royston.
"With support from the National Crime Agency Dog Handlers, we took her to the vets who confirmed that she is, in fact, Clodagh, whose family has been desperately campaigning for her return through press and on social media."
Detective Sergeant Kelly Gray, from Eastern Region Special Operations Unit, said:"We are over the moon that we helped to reunite this much loved pet with her family and give this story a happy ending.
"It doesn't happen often that your dog is returned by a Special Operations Unit and the National Crime Agency. Clodagh's family now have a quite a story to tell and we wish them all the best in the future."
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