The owners of a dog suspected to have been snatched from their garden more than three years ago have described having her back as a “miracle”.

Cocker spaniel Belle disappeared from her home in Sturry, near Canterbury, in March 2021, sparking a desperate campaign to find her.

For months, her owners, Josh Burns and his partner Shellee, clung to hope of getting her back, even launching an appeal and offering a ‘finder’s fee’.

But as the years passed, the couple reluctantly accepted they were unlikely to ever see her again.

“The trail went cold and, despite so many people looking out for her, there were no clues as to what had happened,” Josh said.

That was until an out-of-the-blue phone call this week from a dog warden in Paddock Wood, where Belle had been found running loose.

She had been identified using her microchip, leading to an emotional reunion with her real owners.

“We couldn’t believe it,” said Josh, 31, who runs a plumbing and building business.

“After so long, we’d pretty much given up hope of getting her back. It’s just a miracle.”

Josh says that after launching the appeal after Belle vanished, he started receiving phone calls from people claiming to have her and demanding a ransom, and even threatening to hurt her.

“It was disgusting, but we knew they weren’t for real and I wasn’t going to be intimidated by them,” he said.

“But most people were really kind and supportive, for which we are very grateful.”

The couple first welcomed Belle into their home when she was just a puppy, and had her until the age of two, when she disappeared.

“We always suspected that she had been taken, and that was confirmed when I went to the kennels on the same day we got the call to collect her,” said Josh.

“Belle had clearly been poorly treated and was absolutely filthy and looked very neglected.

“She had also had at least one litter of puppies, and who knows how many more - so she was used for breeding.

“I hope the people that do this to these poor dogs can live with themselves, because it’s absolutely inhumane.”

Josh says Belle was a little disorientated when he first saw her and did not immediately react to him.

“But as soon as I got her home, it was clear she did remember and became super happy and just like her old self,” he said.

“We took her to a vet the same day and got her checked and cleaned and groomed - now she’s looking like a new dog.

“She is calm and her temperament is friendly, as it always was.

“It’s been a long road, but after three-and-a-half years we are just so thrilled to have her home.”

But Belle does not have the house to herself anymore because five months ago Josh and Shellee welcomed a new addition to their home – a labrador puppy called Winnie.

“They’ve quickly become good friends, which is great to see,” said Josh.

“I just hope that anyone else who has lost a dog reads this and it helps them to hang onto hope that miracles do happen.”