Maltreated when he was a puppy, Mojo of the legendary 'brandy' breed has featured on the front cover of the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ISPCA) magazine, has been on RTE, was a star at the RDS in Dublin in front of 30,000 adoring fans and has been to events throughout Ireland.

He was stolen on Saturday, September 13 close to his home at Derrycarne, Portadown, and his adopted owner Heather McReynolds is devastated.

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"I was away at the time and he walked out of sight from my dad and boyfriend for two or three minutes," said Heather. "We may have a lead, as a number of people working in the area were seen acting suspiciously, and we have reported it all to the police."

She added, "Mojo is a mascot for the ISPCA, based in Longford, because of the conditions under which he was found. He was discovered lying in his own faeces when he was about six months - that was 18 months ago - and while his bones had formed, his muscles hadn't formed properly through lack of exercise and he was in poor shape."

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Some of his joints are also poorly formed and he was handed over to Heather because of her expertise in canine muscle touch and she had been nursing him back to health and strength.

"Sadly, he will always suffer because of the way he was treated," said Heather. "He won't be a working dog as such, but he really is a great big softie. I adopted him and he's really loved around the Derrycarne area. We really miss him."

Anyone who may have witnessed Mojo being taken should contact Heather on her mobile phone - 07734 104566 - and she is offering a reward to anyone who gives information that leads to him being found.