Dog stolen from Cork last summer reunited with owners after social media appeal

A dog which was stolen from Co Cork more than six months ago has been found in the UK and reunited with her family.

In June, gardaí in Midleton, Co Cork, received a report that a springer spaniel named Ruby had been stolen from her kennel in the greater Midleton area.

Detectives began investigating and an appeal was made via the Garda southern region Facebook page in an attempt to find her.

The post was viewed by nearly 100,000 people and was spotted by an eagle-eyed woman in the UK, who made contact with gardaí after she saw Ruby was up for sale in the UK on a website.

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With the assistance of Somerset police, Ruby was recovered and made the some 500km journey via Rosslare back to Midleton in time for Christmas.

After being stolen, Ruby had had her microchip removed, and she was in poor health when she returned to the Ahern family. However, Ruby has since recovered and is now back to her old self.

The theft of Ruby is still being actively investigated, gardaí said.

Ruby's owners, Bernard and Liz Ahern, said they are "absolutely thrilled" to have Ruby back home.

“We are so grateful to the lady who spotted Ruby for sale, the Somerset police, and our gardaí here in Midleton.”

‘Real heroes’

Supt Adrian Gamble of the Midleton district said: “We are delighted to have been a part of Ruby’s safe return to her loving family and appeal to all pet owners to take all extra security precautions and ensure their pets are microchipped.”

Supt Gamble especially thanked everyone who shared the social media appeal, and the woman in the UK who saw Ruby was for sale.

“These people are the real heroes of the investigation,” he said.

“The services of our crime prevention officers and community garda are freely available upon request through any Garda station across the country. We are ever present in our communities to keep people safe and offer crime prevention advice.”