Hobart family reunited with Betty the bulldog after she was stolen

Happy news to head into the weekend: A dognapped British bulldog has been reunited with her shocked young family. See how they got her back >>

Betty the bulldog

Happy news to head into the weekend: A dognapped British bulldog has been reunited with her shocked young family.

As reported earlier, Sophie Williams and her four children were desperately pleading with people who were witnessed bundling their pet Betty into a car last week to give her back.

Ms Williams told The Mercury it was a happy ending.

“(Betty) was dropped off anonymously at the vet tonight so we have her back,” she said.

“The story you guys wrote and I think all the shares on social media, they felt the pressure on them to give her back.”

Betty the bulldog on the beach

Asked how the kids were feeling at being reunited, the mum said: “We’re all still in shock, there’s been a lot of tears …”

INITIAL STORY:

A distraught Hobart family has a pre-Christmas message for the dognappers they suspect have their beautiful British bulldog Betty: Please bring her back, her little humans are grieving.

Sophie Williams says Betty was presumed stolen in Rose Bay on November 22 after she escaped from the yard of the family’s new home.

The almost-one-year-old purebred British bulldog ran off with Ms Williams’ parents’ golden retriever. That dog came back, but not Betty, who was allegedly seen being put in a vehicle near Rose Bay High School.

Ms Williams has been sharing her pictures across social media in a desperate bid to get Betty home.

Betty is one of only a handful of British bulldogs in Tasmania and the only one with her particular markings.

“If you think you might have seen her, odds are you actually have,” Ms Williams said.

Ms Williams said the campaign had resulted in the assumed culprits contacting her using a fake social media profile, promising to return her in exchange for the cash reward of $2000.

The suspects failed to turn up to the meeting point and then taunted the family with photos of their loved pet.

“I explained to them that our beautiful pooch has a medical condition that requires medication and they are still refusing to surrender her,” Ms Williams said.

Betty the bulldog has a special bond with her human siblings.

“We just want her back. Drop her off at a vets, take her to the dogs’ home, tie her up at a dog park. Just do the right thing.

“This is now an animal welfare issue. Betty would be suffering without her mediation.”

The children — aged two, four, six and eight years old — are “absolutely beside themselves”.

“My children cannot sleep at night without their best friend and we have exhausted all avenues to find her. I am desperate for help and to share this wider within Tasmania to hopefully bring her home,” she said.

Her six-year-old daughter even wrote a letter pleading for her dog to come home.

“I miss Betty so much I just want her back. I miss Betty so much that I cried so much that I cood off [sic] cried again and again,” the youngster wrote.

“I can’t find my bulldog, I’m so sad. If you find her come to me please I would like that so much if you find her, I love her so much.”

Sophie Williams' six-year-old daughter wrote a letter pleading with dognappers to return her dog Betty.

Sophie Williams' six-year-old daughter wrote a letter pleading with dognappers to return her dog Betty.

The family is urging Rose Bay residents to check their surveillance footage.

“We have a witness who saw the culprits put Betty in their car outside of Rose Bay High School. It’s possible that someone has the registration number of the car within their camera footage,” Ms Williams said.

The matter has been reported to police. A $2000 reward has been offered for anyone who has information which leads to Betty’s return.

Originally published as Hobart family reunited with Betty the bulldog after she was stolen