PUPPIES which were snatched by burglars as a family slept have been reunited with their owners.

Andrew Boulton and Anna Tanistra had owned the six-week-old American bulldog-boxer cross puppies for just two days when thieves broke into their home and stole them, along with their Audi S4 car, credit cards, cash, and electrical items.

Police found Mr Boulton’s £8,000 car in Little Hulton a short time later, after it was involved in an accident, but there was no sign of the puppies.

But last Wednesday Mr Boulton received a call from the police to say they had raided a house in Chorley and found what they believed were the dogs.

Mr Boulton, who lives in Mabels Brow, Farnworth, with his partner Anna and their children, Oliver, aged three, and three-month-old Tyra, said: “I couldn’t believe it when I got the phone call from the police.

“I thought it wouldn’t be them. I didn’t want to get my hopes up.

“I went to Chorley and identified the dogs. I knew as soon as I saw them curled up together that they were ours. It was unbelievable.”

Mr Boulton, who is a shop manager, took them home to reunite them with his partner and children.

“Anna and the children were really happy to have them back,” he said.

The family had bought the puppies for £150 each from a breeder in Middlesbrough as guard dogs.

Mr Boulton, aged 29, contacted The Bolton News last Monday, and after a story appeared in the newspaper a reader called to say he had spotted the dogs in Chorley.

The family contacted the police immediately and travelled to Chorley to put up posters about the missing puppies, speak to the local dog warden and visit local vets.

Mr Boulton said: “I thought if we got to Chorley and made it known they were missing the better the chance we had of having them returned.

“Even so, I’m still in shock. I honestly thought they’d gone forever.”