Hullbridge: Pet rescuer reunited with her four stolen dogs

Ann Cushion, co-founder of Tilly’s Angels, had stopped for a “fly-by” visit at her sister’s home last Tuesday when all four dogs were snatched from her car on Watery Lane.

Devastated, Ann, 61 says the feeling of losing her rescues was “indescribable”, with the owner then targeted by callous scammers pretending to have her pets and demanding money.

She said: “I had a hoax call from someone telling me they had run over my Labrador, another telling me they had my springer spaniel. Another telling me they had one of the other dogs.

“It is scary for any dog owner, but we’ve found it’s what most owners who have had dogs not just stolen but have even had their pets go missing have had to deal with.

“That being said I’m still totally stunned by the whole experience, no matter how many times I’ve seen it happen or helped others in this position.”

With her precious pooches finally found, Ann is over the moon to have them back with her in their rightful home.

Read more:

Pet rescuer has her four dogs snatched from car

She added: “I can’t put into words how happy I am to have them back. To get four stolen dogs back in under three days is almost unprecedented, even nationally.

“Three of them were dumped in the Billericay area.

“We had a phone call that the first two had run into someone’s garden and they secured them for us. We then thought to search that area, and found the third one.

“Micky was so scared and had started to go into survival mode, so we had to use one of the other dogs to help persuade him to come close to me so he could recognise me. When he did he jumped all over us.

“We then carried on searching for the last one and changed our online appeal to say we’d found three of the dogs.

“The remaining dog we got back after we received a phone call and someone kindly handed her over. We just followed everything that Tilly’s Angels tell other owners to do, and what helped me cope was knowing I had an awesome team of people behind me.”