‘He grabbed the lead and said: give me the dog’: can pet detectives stop the rise in animal theft?

Dogs are more valuable than ever - which is why so many are being snatched. But some owners and pet detectives are fighting back

The village of Partridge Green in West Sussex on a gorgeous spring morning. The early mist has burnt off; a wood pigeon coos; a flurry of pink snow falls from a showy cherry tree; outside the butcher's, an orderly, socially distanced queue has formed; a chap out for a morning spin motors along the high street in his vintage MG. It is, as my companion, Colin Butcher, says, a scene straight out of Midsomer Murders.

There are no murders today in Partridge Green, but it is a crime scene, and the crime is one that appears to be sweeping the nation. Butcher - ex-police (you can tell), then private investigator, now company director and chief investigator of The UK Pet Detectives - is on the case. He steps from his Range Rover wearing a fleece with an official-looking badge and UKPD" emblazoned across the back; a twist on NYPD, except PD stands for Pet Detective. I know the impact of seeing that UKPD - it's such an international sign," he says later, putting the jacket on before knocking at an address linked to his main suspect.