A cocker spaniel named Ted who was stolen from his owner has now been returned after a Twitter campaign appealing for information on his whereabouts went viral.
Ted's owner, 75-year-old Philomena Hynes of North Finchley in London, had tied his lead to post while she went into the shop, only to discover that he had been dog-napped when she returned five minutes later.
After putting up posters in the local area reporting Ted as missing, members of Ms Hynes's family decided to take to the internet by posting a message on Twitter.
Within a few days the post had been re-tweeted more than 50,000 times, causing the dog-nappers to panic and agree to return their victim to his owner.
Ted was handed over to Ms Hynes's son-in-law in a pre-arranged drop-off following a telephone call from a mystery person.
Police have now released a picture of a man they are searching for in connection with the crime.
