A Dundee woman whose dog was stolen while she was attacked in her home thought she would be killed if she fought back.
Council tenant Penny Sivewright, who lives in a flat in Logie’s Abbotsford Street, says she opened her door on Sunday evening to two individuals who she has previously had problems with.
The 50-year-old claims she was assaulted and her one-year-old Papillon, Barney, was stolen.
Her other dog, of the same breed, hid in the house during the incident.
Barney was found “running free” on Shaftesbury Place, half-a-mile away, on Monday night.
Dundee woman feared she would be killed by attackers
Penny, who works at vet charity PDSA, says she “didn’t think anything of it” when the man and woman arrived at her door.
She said: “The girl assaulted me and the boy just stared and watched it happen.
“I thought if I fought back he would have killed me.
“I tried to get hold of the police and phoned them three times.
“I don’t know how I’ve managed to function the last few days.
“I live alone, that’s why I want to get something done.”
Tracker dogs used to find Barney
Barney was located thanks to help from Search Dogs for Lost Dogs Scotland group member James Watt.
After the incident was posted on the Missing Pets, Dundee and Angus Facebook page, the 49-year-old went out on Monday with his trained tracker dog Raven, a six-year-old black German Shepherd.
He said: “I went out at around 11.45pm, we knew the people had left on foot with the dog.
“She took us on a straight path to a block of flats on Perth Road.”
Despite Raven’s efforts, James wasn’t able to find Barney that night, but was told while at work in the morning that the young dog had been found after being set free.
“It was a feeling of relief that the dog was safe,” he said.
“We went along because they had assaulted the lady and we had a fear they would harm the dog.”
Dog left a ‘nervous wreck’ after incident
Penny says it “broke her heart” to find Barney running “terrified” on Monday.
She said: “We found him through the power of Facebook – it was shared over 2,000 times within an hour.
“I am constantly at the window, my dog is a nervous wreck, but I have not got an option.
“I have been sleeping on couches on and off but my housing officer said nothing can be done.”
Penny has been in contact with her housing officer to discuss moving to a new property but was told her case needs to go through the council’s anti-social behaviour teams.
A spokesperson for Dundee City Council said: “We are aware of the incident and take all allegations of anti-social behaviour seriously.
“Our anti-social behaviour team are liaising with Police Scotland and will take appropriate action as required.”
Police ‘following positive lines of enquiry’
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 7.25pm on Sunday, 8 October, 2023, police received a report of the assault of a woman and the theft of a dog from a property on Abbotsford Street, Dundee.
“The dog has since been recovered and officers are following positive lines of enquiry.”