‘He’ll probably last four or five days...after that he’ll just die’: Blind hedgehog stolen

‘Because he’s blind he won’t have a clue what he’s doing’

File image. (iStock/Getty)

A couple whose blind hedgehog has been missing since their van was stolen fear he will soon die if he is not found.

The animal, named Stephen, was inside Veronica and Frank Tett’s Vauxhaull Combo when it was stolen in Leeds city centre at about 8.15am on Saturday.

Mr Tett, 80, told the BBC: “He’ll probably last four or five days without food or water. After that he’ll just die.”

The couple, who run Andrew’s Hedgehog Hospital in Appleby, near Scunthorpe, have been caring for Stephen since he was found with chemical burns in June.

Retired business owner Ms Tett, 77, said they were “beside themselves” and had not slept since he was taken while her husband was loading stock for his market stall into the vehicle.

She added: “I need my hedgehog. I don’t mind about the van, vans are replaceable, hedgehogs aren’t.

“I’ve put messages up to the person who took the van saying ‘you can keep it, can I please have my hedgehog back fit and healthy and we'll give you a reward’.”

Ms Tett said it was “unbearable” to think about what might have happened to Stephen and appealed to people to look out for the new, pale grey cat carrier, with a black wire door, that he was last seen in.

“He might starve to death or die from dehydration, he’s got no food or water in the carry box, he could have been flung out and injured, or somebody could have opened the door and thrown him out and because he’s blind he won’t have a clue what he’s doing,” she said.

“Stephen knows our voices so if someone sees the carry box and we go there, if he’s in the vicinity and we call him, he would come.”

Ms Tett said Stephen was in a “really bad way” when he arrived at the couple’s hospital in June but had been “doing great”.

“He was such a lovely hog,” she said. “He was so grateful, I think, that we made him better. He doesn’t deserve this.”

The couple began looking after hedgehogs 27 years ago when they rescued two from a nest that had been abandoned by their mother.

They care for the animals until they are well enough to be released into the wild and also run a captive breeding programme with the animals that are too injured to be released.

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: “Police received a report of a theft of a motor vehicle - a Vauxhall Combo van - at around 8.22am on Saturday morning, from Albion Place, Leeds.

“Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101, quoting crime reference 13190420109.”

Press Association contributed to this report.