Beryl Andresen has absolutely no doubt that her son Phillip's year-old black Labrador Bella was stolen from Phillip's home in Kaitaia on January 12, but that's irrelevant now. Bella's home, not quite as shiny as she was two months ago but fit as a fiddle and happy, thanks to a caring woman in Auckland and a microchip.
Bella disappeared from Worth Street, but as time went by Beryl never lost faith that the dog she mourned for every day would turn up again. Her faith was rewarded last week when she received a phone call from Auckland.
Bella had wandered on to a property in Otara, she said, making herself at home with a woman and three children. A few days later, who Beryl said had looked after Bella very well, took her to a vet to be vaccinated and treated for fleas, the vet finding a microchip that had been flagged to the effect that she had been reported missing.
Phillip wasted no time in driving to Auckland to collect her.
Beryl was convinced that Bella had been stolen: "She loves cars, and might have got into one of her own accord, but she could hardly do that without being noticed," she said. "The best you could say is that she was not taken accidentally."
