Emotional moment dog returned to owners eight years after being stolen

The emotional moment a dog was reunited with its family EIGHT YEARS after being stolen was caught on camera.

Daisy the Labrador was snatched by dog-nappers from her garden in rural Norfolk in 2017.

The crime sparked outcry across the country, with an appeal from actor Tom Hardy eventually making a change in the law to make pet stealing a specific offence.

Daisy’s elderly owners, realising their long lost pet would now be 13 herself, had almost lost all hope of seeing her again - until a miracle happened.

She was found 250 miles away in Weston-super-Mare and traced back to owners Rita and Philip Potter, and on Thursday (February 6), the RSPCA finally returned Daisy back home and to an emotional reunion with her family.

Rita, now 80, struggled to hold back the tears as Daisy recognised them and her old house.

She wagged her tail furiously and her eyes widened as she sniffed around. Rita said: “Daisy you are home”, as she cuddled the Labrador.

The couple said they never gave up hope of her being found one day, but did begin to wonder if she’d passed away and they would never find out what happened to her.

"Not knowing if she was safe or if she was loved was awful for us and we did everything we could to find her including big appeals on social media which went across the world,” said Rita.

"We kept a photograph of the mantlepiece and would look at it every day thinking of her and where she might be. So it is an absolute dream come true that the RSPCA found her and have returned her to us - where she belongs - we are so, so grateful.

“We know she is elderly now and has health issues but whatever time she has left she will now be surrounded by lots of love and attention. The whole family was so excited to hear the news