Heartless drug users have turned to dog-napping as an easy way to fund their habit.

Pedigree dogs worth hundreds of pounds are being seen as an easy target by criminals who sell them on at bargain prices to new owners.

The alarm has been sounded by an animal organisation set up to track down missing dogs and reunite them with their rightful owners.

It follows reports of an number of cases in the Brentwood and Essex area where pedigree family pets seem to have disappeared without trace.

Jayne Hayes - who founded the internet pet registration group Doglost - said: "Dogs are being sold for drug money. It is easy for drug users to steal a dog and sell them on to someone else in a pub. "

This is happening in the London area and other built up areas including Essex and Kent, which is the dog-napping capital of the country. It is a problem that is escalating.

"Unless you actually see your dog being stolen, they are regarded as missing and the police are not interested. Even if a dog is found with someone, cases are very difficult to prove. "

Distraught owners Patricia and Patrick Harkins have mounted a massive campaign to find their Weimaraner dog after it got out of their garden in South Weald on December 27.

They are now offering a £500 reward for the safe return of their Weimaraner.

Doglost advises owners to get their dogs microchipped and tattooed. The group has recently helped to reunite a German Shepherd with its rightful owner after eight months.

A spokesman for Brentwood Police said they not aware of a spate of missing dogs.

Anyone with information on the missing two-year-old female Weimaraner should call the Harkins family on 01277 217459.

Dogs lost and found are posted at www.doglost.co.uk. The number to call is 01909 730077.

Published Tuesday January 20, 2004

Brought to you by the Brentwood Gazette