THE DISTRAUGHT owner of an 11-year-old pug with health problems, believed to have been stolen from the Gwaun Valley, is urging anyone with information to contact her.

Karli disappeared last Friday, January 10, from the garden just outside his home. The 11-year-old rescue pug has a heart condition and a missing left eye.

He is the beloved pet of 93-year-old Gabriele Liemer, who is "absolutely heartbroken" by his absence.

Gabriele's daughter, Sylvia Leimer, said tha Karli is one of five rescue dogs who the family let out at 8.30every morning.

On Friday the dogs went out and in the two minutes between Sylvia's son leaving them and Sylvia going out Karli had gone.

"We had left the gate open for the postman," said Sylvia. "Someone must have come through the gate and snatched the nearest dog.

"There is no way Karli could have got off the property so quickly by himself. He has health problems and stays very close to us.

"They have taken the most helpless dog who has no monetary value."

Karli, who was adopted from an animal shelter in Stuttgart ten years ago, is the favourite pet of Sylvia's 93-year-old mother.

"She is absolutely heartbroken," she added.

Sylvia is urging anyone who knows anything about Karli's disappearance to get in touch.

"He has never been healthy and he reacts to stress really badly," she said. "I am worried that whoever has taken him might have abandoned him somewhere and his chances of surviving on his own are not good.

"He is a dog who needs medical attention and a much-loved member of our family. I appeal urgently to anyone who has any information about him to get in touch immediately."

Karli is microchipped. Anyone who has any information on his whereabouts can contact Sylvia on 01239 821074, the Pembrokeshire dog warden (as required by law), Dyfed Powys Police on 101 or Doglost on 0844 800 3220.