SEVEN eight-week-old Chihuahua puppies and their mother were stolen from a home in Kidderminster.

Taken from a shed near the back door of a house in Usmere Road, Kidderminster, between 12.20pm and 3.10pm on Tuesday, July 28, Minx and her four male puppies and three female puppies have not been seen since.

An alert was put out by K9 Search UK after their owner Rachel Smith registered the dogs as missing and within the first 24 hours of the appeal going live on their Facebook page, more than 238,000 people had seen the appeal - a record number for the lost dog site.

The theft was also reported to the police.

Anyone with information as to the whereabouts of the dogs should contact West Mercia Police on the non-emergency number 101 quoting incident number 405-S-280715. Information can also be passed anonymously via Crimestoppers by calling 0800 555111 or by visiting crimestoppers-uk.org.