Schleiden - Police in Germany are hunting a dog snatcher who stole a pet and painted it in the black, red and gold of the German flag.

Owner Theresa Carl, 47, said: "They must have taken little Simba from my garden. I searched for him for hours in the local parks before returning home to find him covered in paint.

"I bet some horrid football fans did this to him, everyone is going mad in the run up to the World Cup."

The paint had soaked into the eight-year-old Maltese Terrier's fur so much that it was stuck to his skin and he had to be completely shaved.
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