Heartless thieves believed to be to blame for disappearance of disabled girl's pet pugs

Blerina Heqimaj, 13, was given three-year-old panda pug Gigi and two-year-old long-haired pug Tank as a Christmas present two years ago and was responsible for their every need, from food and water to regular walks in the park.

She was heartbroken when the pair were apparently stolen from their Jeffrey Square home on November 18.

Blerina’s mum Jacqueline, 57, said: “It got to the stage where she was crying, constantly crying. Her heart was broken. She was lashing out and hitting out at people. She wouldn’t talk to anyone and she got depressed. I thought, what can we do? The dogs were everything to her.”

Jacqueline, a cafe owner, let Gigi and Tank into the garden while she did some chores on the day of the suspected crime .

She later realised the dogs had disappeared. The garden gate, which had been locked, was open, and her teenage son’s bicycle had been moved. A vast neighbourhood search turned up no clues, and the dogs have not been seen since.

Jacqueline said: “I believe they have been stolen If they had gotten out, where are they? Why has no one seen them? It just doesn’t add up.

“People who get caught dog-napping get nothing more than a slap on the wrist. You’d get a bigger fine stealing from a supermarket. That doesn’t make sense. Dogs are not inanimate objects, they’re living things. They’re our family.

“Gigi and Tank were everything to Bler. They were her world. These people don’t care. They have no feeling for anyone else. How can you sleep at night after taking a dog from anyone, mener mind a child with a disability?”

Gigi and Tank are not the only dogs that are suspected to have been stolen from the Fylde coast in recent months.

A French bulldog called Ralph disappeared from the bottom of Little Poulton Lane on October 31.

On December 17, another French bulldog, Maggie, was on a walk in Stanley Park when she wandered into some bushes and didn’t emerge. Witnesses reported seeing a hooded man trying to lure another dog with treats in the park just minutes before.

Most recently, an American bulldog called Hector went missing from Cartmell Lane, Moss Side on December 27.

Local rescue groups and the RSPCA said high demand for ‘designer breeds’ and fashionable crossbreeds, along with a huge increase in puppy sales during lockdown, could be to blame.

Maxine Conchie, of Harvey’s Army, said: “There’s always been an endemic of dog thefts but since lockdown it’s become an epidemic. The Kennel Club has reported an 168 per cent increase in people searching for puppies from the beginning of Covid-19. Puppies are stolen for immediate sale and adult dogs for breeding. Organised crime and opportunists are stealing dogs from all over the UK.”

To cheer up her daughter, Jacqueline adopted another dog over Christmas from a family that could no longer care for it. But she has not given up on getting Gigi and Tank back.

If you know where the pugs could be, call Harvey's Army on 07833 727 975.