Desperate Edinburgh dog owners offer £1,200 to find Thor

A FRANTIC family who believe their dog was stolen after a walk along Portobello promenade are stumping up a £1,200 reward for his safe return.

Thor the Russian toy terrier vanished from a car park near the Dream and Season cafe on King’s Place last Thursday.

Owner Heather Hiram told how the puppy’s disappearance has hit daughters Maia and Esme even harder after losing their dad just six months ago.

“We just want Thor back,” said professional dog walker Heather, 41. “He’d take food off anyone and would be really easy to conceal in a bag. If someone’s stolen him and it’s money they’re after, then I’m willing to pay for his safe return.”

Thor went missing from Portobello last Thursday

Heather checked the beach and the cafe but there was no sign of Thor who is microchipped and was wearing a blue and white collar when he disappeared.

“I was just along from the cafe in the little car park area. It’s not a massive area with just a few cars and travellers’ caravans,” said Heather, from Portobello.

“We’d just come back from a walk and he was at my feet having a sniff around. I was speaking to another dog walker who I bumped into who’d just come back from the beach.”

One minute Thor, less than a year old, was with Heather and long-haired Russian toy terrier, Axel, the next he was nowhere to be seen.

Esme with Thor. Picture: Contributed

“The dogs were off their leads but they have excellent speed and recall so they come back as soon as I call,” said Heather.

“I looked down and only Axel was there. I thought he’d gone sniffing under the cars or caravans but when I shouted him he didn’t come back.”

She returned the following day but there was still no sign of her distinctive black and tan pet.

“There are a few but you don’t see a lot of them in Edinburgh,” said Heather. “I went into the cafe but they said they hadn’t seen anything.”

Heather travelled across the Lothians to follow-up on sightings in a desperate bid to track down her beloved family pet.

“There was a possible sighting in Livingston so I followed that up and put posters up but it came to nothing,” she said. “There was another in Bathgate and Prestonpans.”

The pain of loss is felt all the more deeply after Heather’s husband and dad to Maia, 16 and 14-year-old Esme, Eric Veal, took his own life six months ago.

“He’s my daughters’ dog really and they’ve said they don’t want anymore losses in the house, they just want their dog back,” said Heather.

And Axel is also missing Thor, the pair becoming inseparable after spending most of their young lives together.

“Axel is missing his brother too but Thor will be distraught without him – he really needs Axel,” said Heather.