Dog returned after being stolen in hammer incident in broad daylight in Cork city

A DOG stolen after his owner was threatened with a hammer has been recovered by gardaí.

Owner Denis McCarthy is delighted to have been reunited with his beloved dog, Rocco, who was taken in a terrifying daylight incident. 

The dog was stolen at around 4.30pm on Ballincollie Road in Ballyvolane yesterday.

“At around 4.30pm a man was out walking his dog when a car pulled up beside him," a garda spokesman said. "A man exited the car, armed with what is believe to be a hammer, and threatened the man to hand over his dog. 

"The dog was then taken and put in the car, which then left the area.” 

The dog was recovered last night and returned to his owner.

Mr McCarthy, who had launched a social media campaign to plead for the return of his beloved pet, described the theft of The Neil Prendeville Show on Cork’s RedFM. 

"A man jumped out with a face mask on and his hood up with a hammer and he said 'gimme that fucking dog'," he said. "He tried to hit me a couple of times with the hammer.

"I was ducking trying to avoid it and he just grabbed the dog, got into the car and sped away."

Mr McCarthy says was unable to take the registration of the car, as it had been covered. 

"They knew what they were doing," he said. "It wasn't an opportunistic thing because they had already covered the reg."

Nobody has been arrested.

Superintendent Declan O’Sullivan said that gardaí were happy to reunite the dog with his owner and are continuing to investigate the incident.