A PET detective has launched a free online tracking service for owners whose animals have been lost or stolen.

In the past month, dog thieves have struck at least three times, taking greyhounds in Harwell, a lurcher in Oxford and a Labrador puppy in Aston Rowant.

Internet entrepreneur Nick Carpenter, 36, set up Oxfordshire Animal Finders from his home in Bicester after he lost Cooper, one of his pet cats.

The initiative has hundreds of volunteers signed up to a Pet Watch scheme – a countywide network of people kept informed of missing and lost pets and animals.

In the six months since it went online there have been more than 200 reports of lost and stolen pets, of which half have been reunited with their owners. The service is free of charge.

Mr Carpenter said: “I had no idea what to expect. I thought we would get a few reports, but not this many.

“I’ve been surprised with the amount of cats that go missing. Eighty per cent of reports involve cats.

“We’ve got people going out looking down their street for us, or even new mums on maternity leave who do a lot of walking will keep an eye out.

“There are people from all walks of life who are just out and about a lot.”

The website lists pets reported missing from all over the county and sends details to the RSPCA, Cats Protection and local veterinary surgeries.

Volunteers receive a text message or email update on any animals that might be missing in their area.

The Pet Watch scheme has recently reunited a pet cat, which had been lost for a week, with its owner and found a tortoise that had strayed a mile from its home.

Mr Carpenter said: “We don’t get too many stolen animal reports, but there has been a spate in south Oxfordshire recently.

“Dogs are stolen for a variety of reasons – for breeding if they are pedigree, for dog fighting or for a sport like hare coursing.

“Sometimes they may be stolen and sold in a pub for £50 to pay for drugs.”

On September 19 a black lurcher was stolen after her owner left the dog tied up at the Sainsbury’s supermarket, in Heyford Hill, Oxford. She was later found in Northampton and returned to her owner.

Thieves stole three greyhounds after breaking into Winaway Kennels in Harwell, near Didcot, on September 23.

Greyhounds Mays Risky and Suki Getz were both found later that day abandoned, but Saving Tyrone is still missing.

On September 25, thieves scaled a garden fence in Aston Rowant and forced open a kennel and stole a black Labrador puppy belonging to Brett Denly and his family.

Pc Pete Hale, of Thames Valley Police, said dog thefts remained a problem in Oxfordshire.

He said: “It’s a constant issue. All types of dogs from a small chihuhua up to greyhounds and lurchers are targeted for many different reasons.”

To report a lost pet, see animalfinders.co.uk or call 0800 999 2343.

LEFT BEREFT A father said his daughters were distraught after thieves stole their pet dog.

Thieves broke into Brett Denley’s garden in Aston Rowant on September 25 and stole five-month-old pedigree black Labrador Boris.

Mr Denly, who has four daughters aged four, nine, 10 and 13, found Boris’s collar in a bush.

He said: “How they didn’t manage to get spotted, I don’t know.

“We have been putting up posters and looking on websites for help, such as Oxford Animal Finders. There have been a couple of sightings, but they haven’t led to anything.

“The girls have been beside themselves. It was our first pet and we had him for two months and he was taken away.

“I think he was stolen to order and someone has him who wanted him.”