Missing French bulldog found tied up, starving and scared behind Layton food shop

One-year-old Paddy went missing on Saturday night from the Kingscote Park area, and his owner, Ann Louise Wardle, feared he had been stolen.

He was found by a passer-by on Wednesday morning tied up behind the Co-operative on Layton Road, scared, starving and dehydrated.

Ann Louise, 34, who lives in Bispham, said: “I want to find the person who has done this to him. I’ll catch them if it kills me.

“He was tied up so tight he could have been strangled if he had been left any longer. He hadn’t been fed, he hadn’t been watered, he was dehydrated. His skin was coming off. He was malnourished.

“If someone hadn’t found him when they did he would have died. The harness was on so tight it was digging into his ribs.”

After finding Paddy, the passer-by called Ann Louise and local pet rescue group Homeward Bound, who identified him using his microchip.

It is believed that whoever had Paddy during the four days he was missing abandoned him due to local dog rescue volunteers making him ‘too hot to handle’.

Wendy Mulela, of Homeward Bound, said: “Paddy was found tied up down an alleyway, probably because whoever tied him up didn’t want to be seen tying him up. Luckily someone found him. He was quite distressed when we found him, so we don’t know how long he’s been tied up for.

“We had printed off 400 flyers, to the point where our printer cartridge ran out. We flooded the area with posters, and the day after that clearly whoever had him just thought they’d be better off without him.”

Luckily, Paddy is now back at home and making a good recovery.

Wendy said: “We always thought someone had taken Paddy, so it’s a great relief. It’s always suspicious when a dog goes missing and there’s absolutely no sightings whatsoever, especially in this case where we had volunteers out very quickly. Either they are somewhere where we can't find them, or someone has taken them.”

Ann Louise, a mum of one, said: “I’m still so angry that someone has tied him up like that. I just can’t comprehend how someone could do something like that.”