Sleuthing family take their own action after their beloved dog is taken outside Lidl

Constantin Munteanu was heartbroken aft helium popped into a Lidl supermarket lone to instrumentality to find Lex, his beloved canine who helium tied to railings, had been kidnapped

A dog has been recovered 200 miles from location - astir 1 twelvemonth aft helium was taken from extracurricular a Lidl.

Constantin Munteanu, the owner's father, had tied Lex to a railing earlier visiting the supermarket to bargain flowers for his woman connected January 6. He contacted constabulary but the spitz's owner, Florentina Munteanu, 43, said officers did not instrumentality the "kidnapping" successful Antwerp, Belgium, seriously.

But the household "decided to instrumentality enactment themselves" and acceptable up a Facebook leafage to hint Lex. They've had hundreds of mendacious leads since but, this week, Chantal Voet, a French woman, sent a photograph of a stateless antheral with a fluffy achromatic canine - and Ms Munteanu recognised him arsenic Lex instantly.

She said: "I knew immediately, 'that is Lex. I instantly contacted the French constabulary and asked them to spell determination with a spot scholar to cheque the DogID [the Belgian registration service]. The spot fig matched."

Lex was recovered 300 days aft helium was seized extracurricular the supermarket. Speaking to the Het Laatste Nieuws newspaper, Ms Munteanu said her household was disappointed with the police's effect successful Belgium. It was the family's enactment connected societal media which led to the find.

After French constabulary confiscated the canine and acceptable up a video call, Lex "recognised his household immediately". Ms Munteanu said the pooch "responded enthusiastically".

After driving to Paris, the household were reunited with their pet. A video posted connected Facebook shows Lex backmost with his owners. "In a nanosecond helium jumped towards us," Ms Munteanu told the Dutch broadcaster VRT: "When I hugged Lex again a 1000 emotions went done me. Happiness, relief, sadness. Our homecoming was besides wonderful."

The stateless antheral said helium bought the canine astatine a marketplace successful Paris, and showed the constabulary falsified papers. Lex's owners said their favored had been castrated but had "certainly got food, helium gained immoderate weight". The household has called for a alteration successful the instrumentality truthful theft of a favored is treated much seriously. Ms Munteanu said: "A canine is simply a surviving creature. This is not theft but kidnapping."