THIS poor pooch will not want to leave her loving owners any time soon after suffering a terrifying ordeal which culminated in her being trapped in fencing nearly 150 miles from home.

One-year-old whippet Stella was missing for two weeks after disappearing during a walk near Magic Lake in Houghton Green.

Hundreds of people offered to help her owner Richard Brennan, from Cinnamon Brow, before they received a call from a rescue centre in Boston, Lincolnshire to say she had been found caught on a railway fence with wire wrapped around her neck.

Lisa Gannon, who often looks after Stella when Richard is away, said: “It’s been overwhelming and a real rollercoaster of emotions.

“She’s so glad to be home and everytime she sees someone she knows she just cries.

“We didn’t give up hope but it was agonising waiting for news.”

Stella’s ordeal began on May 13 when she disappeared after jumping into a hedge near the motorway verge at Croft, where the slip road from the M62 meets the M6 north.

Richard’s family and friends searched for hours alongside volunteers from the dog group Find Harvey but there was no sign of the pup.

It is thought she must have been snatched by a motorist but chewed through her wire leash to made a break for freedom before she was found caught on the fencing and taken to a Boston rescue centre.

Another family had been claiming Stella was theirs and they had ‘paid good money’ for her on the internet but Stella’s microchip proved who her real owner was.

Lisa, who lives in Stockton Heath, added: “When Richard went to collect her she recognised him straight away and jumped up.

“She was very poorly and tired but it was a very emotional reunion.

“It’s horrible to think somebody had taken her and treated her badly but microchipping and her determination to get free saved the day.

“The support we have had trying to find her has been unbelievable with one person even offering a reward for information.

“It’s fantastic to have her home and she’s been constantly cuddled and spoilt but I don’t think we’ll be going to the spot we lost her again for a long time!”