AN overjoyed Trowbridge family have been reunited with the Jack Russell they feared had died, when all along she had been snatched by dognappers.

The Lamploughs in Cockhill made a desperate appeal to help find 13-year-old Dora after the terrier went missing.

Now they are celebrating after receiving the amazing news that she has been found alive. And they say it’s all thanks to the Times’ stories about her loss being shared on social media.

Dora was discovered after police received a tip-off about stolen dogs and raided a traveller camp in Gloucestershire.

Mrs Lamplough, 59, said: “I just can’t believe that we have got her back. I can’t stop looking at her.

“When we got her home, she was running around like a puppy.

“We were facing the possibility she may have passed away due to her being elderly and on heart medication, which she needs daily.

“It turns out she was grabbed by opportunists passing by and ended up in Gloucestershire and hoarded with a load of other stolen dogs.

“The police did a raid five days later after a tip-off and found Dora barely alive.

“The other dogs were all running around but Dora was curled up in a cardboard box. The police raced her to the vets because she was so unwell.

“Her microchip unfortunately wasn’t detected and after the vets got her well again a lovely officer planned to keep her.

“But then he stumbled across one of the many posts shared of the article about Dora in the Wiltshire Times.

“So Dora is now back home where she belongs. We’ve all been in tears of joy at this wonderful news.

“It goes to show your much-loved pets can end up absolutely anywhere. Never give up hope and most importantly keep them safe.

“We’re so pleased to have her back home. I’m never going to let her out of my sight again.”

After Dora disappeared on February 8, when she wandered out of a garden gate which had been accidentally left open, the family put up missing dog posters on lamp-posts in nearby roads.

They even commissioned a drone operator to search for her in the Cockhill and Broadmead estate areas.

At the time Mrs Lamplough said “Dora must have got out and is now missing. We think that someone must have taken her because we haven’t found a body.

“Dora is partially sighted and partially blind and has a heart problem for which she needs medication twice a day. Without it, she will die.”

The family’s joy at having Dora home has been shared by the many people who turned out in bitterly cold weather to help search for her, walking the streets nearby and local footpaths at all hours, calling her name quietly and hoping to tempt her out if she was scared and hiding somewhere.

There has also been online joy at the news from people who shared the missing posts, both individually and through lost dog groups, and helped bring Dora home by spreading the news.