East Ham owner’s joy at dog reunion as caring motorists rescue
Nick Millar is reunited with Velma after more than three weeks - Credit: Archant
A pet owner who received malicious phone calls as he tried to trace his missing dog has been reunited with her after motorists rescued her.
When she went missing in early September, her owner was told to pay £2,000 or his three-year-old cross Dachshund Velma would be posted “through your letterbox in pieces.”
Nick Millar, who adopted Velma and her daughter Roxy after they were rescued from a life of abuse in Croatia, received a series of anonymous, crude phone calls.
In one, a man said “We found your dog and ate her as a hot dog”.
Nick, who lives in Rancliffe Road, East Ham, said: “I just thought how stupid. Then they called back later and said that came out wrong and that they were going to have sex with her.
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“They just got cruder and cruder.”
A few days later, they rang again. Mr Millar said: “They said “we have got your dog, we want £2,000 or we’ll post her through your letterbox in pieces.””
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Velma was spotted on a roundabout by a couple from Britannia Village, west Silvertown as they were driving towards the North Circular at Beckton at noon on Sunday.
Pieter Van Rensurg and Estee Humphries saw Velma stuck on the roundabout.
Pieter said: “She was going through rubbish bags, trying to find food”.
The couple, also dog owners, were joined by other motorists and between them, they managed to coax Velma to their car with a packet of crisps.
Pieter said: “She was so weak I don’t think she could have survived another week.”
