Beloved dog Ted has '˜grate escape'

Joanne Tromans’ six-year-old miniature Yorkshire Terrier Ted went missing last Thursday, but was found three days later down a drain by pals Charlie Hutchinson, aged five, Daniel Quayle, 12, and Harley Crossley, eight, who live nearby.

The boys’ primary school in Illingworth, Halifax, will hold a special assembly on Monday with Ted in recognition of their heroics.

Joanne, 53, who lives in Illingworth, said: “Charlie went to get a bigger boy to help him, and they went down to get him. They’re my little angels.

“I was on the verge of not wanting to live anymore, it was that bad.

“Thirty years ago, I had a dog that was stolen and I never got over it, so I thought it was happening again.

“My dogs are my life. I’m not working at the moment due to illness, and they’re the only thing that keeps me going.

“I lost a dog in October, he was older. But I was absolutely devastated about Ted,” she added.

“I was just panicking, thinking ‘where is he, what’s he doing, is he in a ditch somewhere?’

“I was about to go leafleting when I got the call to say he’d been found.”

Joanne added: “He’s got his own little character. He’s a miniature but he thinks he’s a bigger dog, so he’ll go barking at bigger dogs.

“I can’t believe I couldn’t hear him making a racket where he was.

“I don’t know if he got taken there or fell down, but I can nearly see where it is from my house. He’s never gone missing before.”