THE power of social media has been praised for helping reunite a lost dog with her worried owners.

Springer spaniel Bella went missing at a livestock market in Worcester in May, when it is thought she was stolen from the back of a pick-up truck.

After a desperate search and hundreds of shares on Facebook, she was found at a vet in Pershore.

Bella's owners Chris Henderson and Jenny Clarke have thanked everyone who spread the word and helped their efforts.

Mrs Henderson said: "I asked 70 or 80 people to share our appeal on Facebook to their friends .

"They all Facebooked it and one of them received 150,000 hits.

"People in the USA and Canada were replying which really shows the reach of social media and I was amazed by it.

"When we were putting the posters up, people were all saying 'I've seen that on Facebook'."

When she went missing, seven-year-old Bella, who is sprayed and microchipped, was being cared for by the pair's friend Fiona Jones.

She was in a vehicle parked at McCartneys in Nunnery Way with Mrs Jones' four dogs while she visited a sheep sale.

The pick-up's tailgate was locked bolted from the inside, which led Mrs Jones to believe at least two people were involved in taking the dog between 10.35am and 12.20pm.

Thankfully, Bella has been returned, but her owners went through some tough times while she was still missing.

Posters were put up in a 40-mile radius to try to track her down.

Mrs Clarke said: "I think for most of the time she was away I was quite positive we would get her back.

"You hear about dogs being reunited with their owners after years, but it was awful not knowing where she was.

"There were moments when you think it's a bit like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

"Thank goodness their conscience got the better of them.

"It's what everybody was praying for."