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Dog thefts are not “wide-spread” across Gwent, the Police and Crime Commissioner has said.

Earlier this month, Gwent’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Jeff Cuthbert, said the issue of dog thefts has come to his attention “a bit more” but he isn’t aware of it being “an issue wide-spread across Gwent”.

He said it can be “very distressing but it’s not a common occurrence in Gwent”.

Mr Cuthbert said: “It’s incredibly difficult for our police to do anything unless they happen to be there at that time.”

Gwent Police’s deputy chief constable, Amanda Blakeman, said it wasn’t lost on her that dogs form an important part of families.

She said: “A number of people over this time period have bought dogs so we have seen an increase in the number of people who have a dog at home.

“From a Gwent perspective we aren’t seeing a huge increase [in dog thefts].

“We are seeing some, but some is more than what we’d want so we have got to focus on it.

“From a national position we’ve only a few forces in the country that have seen an increase in dog thefts.

“The national figures are not at the level that perhaps some of the social media position would lead you to believe, but it’s still an issue.”