A puppy stolen from an elderly man’s garden has been found after a social media appeal went viral.

Leonard Ormond’s nine-month-old Border terrier was snatched from outside his Dundee home by two men last month.

The frail 82-year-old was in his living room when he noticed a grey van pull up beside his garden fence on Napier Drive.

Thinking the men were charity workers, he went to his front door to speak to them but by the time he got outside they had driven off and his pet Rosco was nowhere to be seen.

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The theft sparked an extensive social media campaign, with one Facebook post receiving 1.8 million hits.

Little Rosco, who was wearing a collar with an ID tag, was registered as stolen on his microchip and police launched an investigation.

Rosco, who has been a companion for Mr Ormond since his wife Muriel went into hospital in June, was located in the south of England this week after the appeal was given information.

Their son Gordon, who lives in London, is picking up Rosco on Thursday before travelling to Dundee to reunite him with his father.

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He told STV News: “He’s ecstatic. It’s been quite traumatic, especially when he had been standing watching by the window and couldn’t get out because he is too frail.

“Facebook was crazy – we had 1.8 million hits on one page alone, plus on the Missing Dogs pages.

“It’s unbelievable how many dogs are getting stolen. There must be hundreds being taken every year. It’s just shocking.”