When the lead goes limp, it's a clue that the dog's gone...

As I scanned today's police blotter, a report of three boxer dogs stolen from kennels at Fishtoft near Boston caught my eye.

Two things struck me.

First, the monetary value put on the trio of three-year-old female boxers was a cool £7,000. That's three very special bitches (one ginger brindle, one fawn and white, one red and white).

And second, was the time they were said to have been stolen:

sometime between 1.00pm on Monday 30 July 2007 and Thursday, 1 August 2007 around 11.00am.

So the dogs could have been gone for up to three days before they were missed.

I may be out of touch - it's well over ten years since Sam, my beloved labrador, popped his clogs. And I know boxers are meant to be smarter than the average mutt. But surely canines have not evolved so far since Sam that they actually feed themselves these days...have they?

And if prized mutts are in kennels, don't they get pampered with walkies at least twice a day?

Wouldn't you at least notice that the end of the lead had gone limp...?