Labradoodle puppy theft: Phone pranksters branded 'pathetic' Published duration 24 December 2019

image caption Catherine Hussein was out walking with Waffle on Sunday when an armed man approached her and stole the Labradoodle

Pranksters who have taunted the owners of a puppy stolen at knifepoint have been branded "pathetic".

After Labradoodle Waffle was stolen on Monday morning, owner Catherine Hussein says she received "stupid" comments over the phone and on social media.

A masked man approached her with what she believed was a knife and took six-month-old Waffle in St Austell, Cornwall, at about 07:00 GMT.

image copyright DEVON AND CORNWALL POLICE image caption Waffle's owner Catherine Hussein urged anyone who sees a dog that looks like him to call his name and "you'll know instantly that it's him"

Ms Hussein, said: "We've had pranksters calling, then putting the phone down, it's pathetic.

"Some people have said I should have followed [the thief], but why would you put yourself in that position?

"I would rather have handed the dog over than have my family visiting me in hospital with stab wounds."

Ms Hussein, who is originally from Lancashire, said she would have fought back "if he had not pulled a knife".

image caption Waffle will be "crying and barking for his mum" said his owner

She is now worried Waffle will be suffering from "separation anxiety" and barking for his owner.

"He will be crying and barking for his mum. I hope he's done nothing but bark and cry and they let him go."

She said anyone who saw a dog looking like Waffle could call his name and he would recognise it.

"He is the most social dog, you'll know instantly that it's him," she said.

"I just hope he comes back and I don't have to explain to my grandson where he is."

Waffle's thief is described as about 5ft 8in (1.72m) tall. He was wearing a black hooded top and scarf, and spoke with a foreign accent.