Search under way for owners of stolen Southampton dog

A woman who helped a stolen dog found more than 100 miles [162km] from its home is hoping to reunite it with its owner.

The dog, believed to be a Saluki, was found wandering alone at night in Bristol on Wednesday.

Tracey Hill said it was taken to a local vets where a chip scan discovered it was stolen from Southampton.

The dog has been nicknamed Dale, after Rosedale Road, the street where it was discovered.

Dale was found by a friend of Ms Hill's at about 21:30.

"We walked around the streets knocking on doors to no avail," she said.

After searching for two hours they fed the dog and "he wolfed down two bowls of food" before another friend took Dale to a 24-hour veterinarian surgery.

The establishment is currently attempting to reach the owners.

Ms Hill said: "Finding out he was stolen made me angry as that's someone's family pet, but it made those hours out in the cold searching for the owner 100% worthwhile as now he has the chance to go back."

She said Dale "seemed quite thin, and the vets did comment and say he was underweight".

The dog is described as having a mystery purple or blue dye on its paws and legs.

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