A Dundee teen has been left terrified after three men tried to snatch his dog.
Thomas Wilson, 14, said he was chased by the hooded men while walking his 10-month-old German Shepherd, Simba.
The teen was walking his usual route on Stannergate Road, close to Broughty Ferry Road at around 3pm on Saturday, when he was approached by three men who began asking to hold his dog.
The Craigie High pupil said: “I was walking down towards the entrance to the port when I noticed that there were two white vans parked on either side, one smaller and one a transit van type.
“I then saw that there were three men all standing beside them and they all had their hoods up.
“I just kept walking past and that’s when they started asking me to hold my dogs lead.
“I said no and continued walking but when I looked back they were following behind me and you could tell that Simba was alerted to it as well.
“Then I decided to start taking corners because I knew if they went the same way as me that they were definitely following me.”
“When they did take the same corners I began running and they began chasing after me and were still shouting saying “come here” and telling me to give them Simba and holding their hand out to get the lead.
“Luckily I wasn’t far from home and when I got up to the end of the street where you could see houses they stopped following behind. I kept running until I got home.
“It was really terrifying.
“Nothing like that has ever happened before and I would never have thought it would happen either especially during the day.”
Thomas has been walking Simba on that route since the family got him four weeks ago but is now too scared to go alone.
His mum, Melissa Johnston, contacted police once Thomas arrived home and said although the family are shaken following the incident, she is proud of how her son handled it.
Melissa, 36, added: “I am so proud of Thomas being able to think quickly on his feet and get away safe.
“It is scary as if it had been me there is no way I would have been able to run as fast as him to get away.”
It comes after a dog was snatched from the Dighty Gardens area of Dundee last week and later recovered.
On the same day, four reports were made to police about men acting suspiciously in Baxter Park, with two reports of attempted dog thefts.
“I have heard of incidents elsewhere such as Baxter Park but I didn’t think too much of it.
“There are always people walking their dogs down Stannergate and lots of females alone who exercise with their dogs there so it is really scary that this has happened.
“We got Simba after months of trying to find a dog and he is just so sooky and cuddly, you just can’t imagine what they do to any dogs they do manage to take.
“It’s heartbreaking.
“Thomas will definitely not be walking Simba on his own down there anymore, which is such a shame as for the past four weeks that has been his daily routine and with lockdown he hasn’t been able to get out much so that was his thing, however now it will definitely be dad taking Simba for his big walks.
“You just don’t expect it to happen especially in broad daylight.”
A spokesperson for Police Scotland said: “Around 8.15pm on Saturday March 13 2021 officers received a report of the attempted theft of a dog in Dundee.
“Inquiries are at an early stage.”