Stolen dog returned to rescue centre after attempted £100 street sale
A dog stolen from a rescue centre has been returned following a public appeal.
Molly, a Staffordshire bull terrier, was taken from Rosedene Rescue Centre in Walsall on Sunday.
The 11-month-old dog was taken by a woman failed to return her after a walk, leaving fake ID and a fake address.
Following an Express & Star article and various social media posts, the rescue centre received a call from a man in Great Barr claiming he had the dog.
Rachel Isley, of the Rosedene Rescue Centre, said: "We're absolutely delighted she's back we can't quite believe it.
"When we saw she wasn't back on Monday, we feared the worse.
"We were contacted by a member of the public who said he'd been offered her in the street for £100 and they ended up giving over the dog for free and said they had to leave the area.
"That's more for the police to look into now but I'd just like to say a massive thank you to everyone who shared the post and spread the word, it's amazing to see how many people genuinely care.
"We've had vets, other rescue centres and so many wonderful people share the post and that's made a difference."
The original Facebook post received more than 21,000 shares and volunteers from Rosedene believe it was the strong public reaction which led to the dog being found.
Molly has only been at the home for three weeks after she was originally going to be sold on Gumtree for bait.
The non-for-profit home runs off donations from the public and has never dealt with an incident like this before.
Rachel added: "This has certainly made us more aware. Nothing like this has ever happened before and we hope it won't again.
"So it's certainly made us more aware. It was a Polish lady wearing a dress who took her and we don't think she had a car, so in hindsight we may have been too trusting."
Following the incident, those who wish to do walk dogs will now have to go through a stricter security process.
Rachel said: "Unfortunately people will now have to bring photo ID and utilities bills proving their address before they can take dogs for walks."
