A HEARTBROKEN dog owner is today pleading for help in tracing her missing pooch after it was stolen while she was having dialysis treatment.

Lisa Lucas, of Broomfield Common in Sproughton, left her three-year-old Pug, called Puggy, in her garden while she had the treatment at Ipswich Hospital on Friday.

But when she returned home at about 6.30pm, the 39-year-old discovered the gate to her garden was unbolted and Puggy, who it is believed is also pregnant, was gone.

Miss Lucas said she bolted the gate before she left for the hospital. She is now offering a reward to the person who finds the dog and brings it back to her safely.

“I collapsed when I realised what had happened,” she said.

“She’s my baby, she’s a part of me, I have had her since she was six-weeks-old.

“I don’t usually put her in the garden but it was a nice day. I came back at 6.30pm and she wasn’t there and the gate bolt was undone.

“Someone has jumped over there unbolted it and taken her. I have had her for three years, I don’t know what to do.

“It is like someone has stolen my child.”

Miss Lucas goes to hospital for dialysis three times a week.

Her other a dog, a labrador, was also in the garden while she was away but only the pug was taken.

Miss Lucas added: “I have got posters which will be going up and everyone is spreading the word.”

A spokeswoman for Suffolk police confirmed they were informed of the incdient, which happened between noon and 6.30pm on Friday and they are treating it as theft.

If you were in the area during those times and saw anything suspicious, or if you have any information about the theft, please contact Suffolk police on 101.