A DEVASTATED pet owner believes her dog has been cruelly snatched from a Glasgow street while out on a routine walk they have done almost every day for five years.

Kirsteen Marshall has not seen her much-loved family pet Blake since Monday night at around 9 pm after he vanished from outside a Nisa shop on Ballater Street in the city’s Gorbals area.

The mum-of-one, who has a 15-year-old daughter, says she follows the same route every night to walk the pet which includes a stop outside the shop where she buys milk.

The dog, who was off lead but never moves from its owners’ sight, was sitting at the door before he vanished completely.

Glasgow Times: Kirsteen Marshall with BlakeKirsteen Marshall with Blake

Now police are investigating dog-snatching and a social media campaign has been launched to bring Blake home.

Heartbroken Kirsteen, 34, who lives in the Gorbals, said: “We walk that route every night. This is just speculation but we think these people have been watching us.

“I go into the shop and get a half-pint of milk, Blake normally sits at the door and the shopkeeper gives him a treat.

“Blake wandered to the side of the door for about 30 seconds and he was gone.”

Glasgow Times:

She added: “I knew he had not wandered off. It will make me look like a terrible dog owner because he was off the lead but every night he sits at that door and does not move. He is at my feet all the time.

“I knew straight away he was gone, I shouted after him in the street and went home to phone the police.”

Glasgow Times:

Determined to find out what happened to the pooch, Kirsteen revisited the shop the following day to review CCTV footage which she believes shows the dog being snatched by a man before driving off in a car which had been waiting nearby.

Blake, who is worth no more than £300, is a Shih Tzu Bichon cross who the family has had since he was eight weeks old. He is now six and a half years old. When last seen, he was wearing a red collar and he also has distinctive back paw which has an extra toe.

She said: “He is almost like famous around here and everyone knows him. He is so friendly and always getting up to mischief.

“I wouldn’t call myself a dog owner, he is my son so it feels very much like someone has stolen my child.”

She added: “He is just so precious, he really is one of a kind.

“It doesn’t feel real. For five years we have lived here we have done the same routine, I have been very naïve thinking this could not possibly happen to me.”

Glasgow Times:

The family is now offering a £5,000 reward for the safe return of Blake. The dog has also been neutered so he can’t be a stud.

Kirsteen said: “We will pay that to anyone who brings him home as long as they are not responsible for his disappearance.”

A Police Scotland spokesman said: “Around 10 pm on Monday 7 October 2019, police were contacted by a woman reporting her dog stolen from Ballater Street, Gorbals, Glasgow. Officers are carrying out enquiries into this matter."

You can support the social media campaign to bring him home here