|
07
January 2007
Lily
Allen's Dog Is
Returned
Lily
Allen
has been reunited with
her dog after it was
stolen from a van in
east London.
The
21-year-old announced on
her MySpace weblog that
she had received a call
from a man claiming to
have bought Maggie May,
an English bull
terrier.
She
wrote that friends had
met the man and gave him
a cash reward in return
for her pet.
Lily
Allen said she was
"overjoyed" but added
that Maggie May was
"very thin" so may have
been
"mistreated".
Lily
Allen, whose hits
include Smile, said she
had concerns after her
friends were offered
more puppies to buy,
after Maggie May had
been handed
over.
"These
people were obviously in
the business of moving
dogs. Now I feel guilty
for having given these
people money and
contributing to their
cruel business but I
love that dog and felt I
had no choice," she
said.
She
added that Maggie May
had fleas which made her
suspect she had been
kept with other "maybe
stolen"
animals.
The
star said the matter was
now with the RSPCA and
the police.
Lily
added that she had been
accused by some people
of "neglecting her dog"
which was "distressing
and hurtful".
"People
have been speculating
that because Maggie was
thin and had fleas she
must have run away,
Maggie was tied up and
in her cage in the back
of a van and could not
have escaped, she was
stolen," she
said.
Maggie
May was taken from her
friend's van in Forest
Gate, east London, on 28
December.
A
spokesman for Dog Lost,
a website that helps
find missing canines,
said there was a "huge"
problem with such breeds
being stolen in east
London.
Lily
Allen pleaded for
information about the
theft on her MySpace
page last week and also
posted details of Maggie
on the Dog Lost
website.
The
site's founder, Jane
Hayes, said: "We think
there are gangs
operating in east London
stealing dogs for
organised dog fights. We
also think they are
being sold in pubs by
people looking for quick
money for drugs. We get
at least 100 reports a
week of dogs lost,
presumed stolen, and the
site gets about 1.5
million hits a
week."
Return
To News
Index
|
