A family-of-four has been reunited with their stolen dog after she was found over 200 miles away after nearly three years.
Joanna and George Kowalczyk, both 45, and their two daughters Veronica, 27 and 24-year-old Patrycja were left devastated when their French Bulldog called Tina was pinched.
She was dognapped from the back of the family’s van while they popped into a Morrisons supermarket.
They reported the theft to cops who launched an investigation.
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But the Kowalczyk family, of Walthamstow, feared they would never see her again following the theft in the car park in Chingford, east London on 7 May, 2021.
They faced more heartache just three weeks later when they said they were told to remove missing posters offering a reward.
Yet they were eventually allowed to keep them up and circulated 90,000 of them.
However, after two years and nine months, they got a call to say she had been found 206 miles away in Manchester.
A dog warden contacted them because Tina was microchipped.
Joanna and George drove an eight hour round trip to pick her up on Thursday (22 Feb).
In a heart-warming video, excited Tina ran over to them.
Joanna then said: “Hello gorgeous.
“You are coming home now.”
Patrycja said: “I can’t believe it’s true, it’s just surreal.
“Now after this time we can give all the love and affection she hasn’t had from us over the past years.”
Joanna added: “The family is finally all back together.
“No words can really explain how I feel.”
A Met Police spokesperson said: “We did investigate after a dog was reportedly stolen from a car in a supermarket car park in Chingford in May 2021.”
This article features on What’s The Jam.
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