A BELOVED family pet who helps a young boy cope with his learning difficulties has reportedly been stolen.
Willow, a one-year-old Yorkshire Terrier, went missing from her home on Lubbecke Way in Dorchester on Wednesday morning after she was let out in the garden.
Her owner, Claire Trask-Mowlem, is devastated that Willow has gone missing as she helps her 11-year-old son TJ cope with his autism and ADHD.
Claire said: "Willow and our other dog Max really help to keep TJ calm when he's having a meltdown or is feeling stressed. He is very animal orientated and he absolutely adores the dogs so he is desperate to get Willow back.
"I haven't slept since she went missing - I am so worried about her. She means everything to our family."
As well as the feelings of sadness and concern following Willow's disappearance, Claire has been left feeling frightened that whoever reportedly stole Willow had targeted her house specifically.
She said: "It is quite scary thinking that someone stole her because she was taken while I was out on the school run so it is frightening to think someone was watching the house, waited until I was gone and then took her.
"Someone could have walked down the alley at the back of our house, leaned over our back gate and put her in their jacket and walked away with her.
"We still have another dog in the house so I am really worried that someone who specifically wants to steal dogs is wandering around the area."
Claire, who lives with her husband and three of her children, contacted the police after Willow, who is microchipped, had been missing for a few hours.
A spokesman for Dorset Police said: "Dorset Police received a report at around 3.35pm on April 21 that a dog had possibly been stolen from the garden of an address on Lubbecke Way in Dorchester.
"It is reported that the dog – a small Yorkshire Terrier with a pink collar – was stolen between 8am and 8.40am on the same day.
"Enquiries are ongoing into the report. No arrests have been made."
Anyone with any information should contact the police on 101 and quote crime reference number 55210062452.
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