A CHAMPION dog stolen in Cornwall has been found 350 miles away in Chorley and reunited with its owner by an Oswaldtwistle kennels.

Tally the English Pointer, who is a British Champion Gundog and British Field Champion, was snatched from owner Carol Martin's home in Truro on September 21.

But she was reunited with her relieved owner earlier this week after a farmer found the emaciated dog wandering through his field in Coppull, near Chorley.

A dog warden from Chorley Council was called and Tally was taken to Oswaldtwistle's Glencoe Kennels on Haslingden Old Road, which has a contract to house dogs found by the council.

Alert staff recalled being told about the dog's disappearance and found a microchip enabling them to trace Miss Martin.

The anxious owner rushed across the country overnight for the seven-hour journey, to be reunited with her dog. Starving Tally was found in a "horrendous condition" and was very thin but after being fed and pampered by the kennels was back to her old self.

Kennels owner Kath Dewhurst said: "She was a little bit fed-up but she soon bucked up as she was in a heated kennel with a nice warm bed.

"She became extremely happy, especially when she saw her owner. She was extremely ecstatic. It was the best Christmas present for her owner -- she was really emotional."

Kath says she was "gobsmacked" on realising how far Tally had come, adding: "We were made up that we could contact her and reunite her with her owner. It was a wonderful feeling." Miss Martin, 38, said: "I could not believe it. I had to see her for it to feel real.

"I'm absolutely delighted. I felt very sorry for her to see the state she was in but the fact she's back is the most important thing."

Tally's success made her high-profile and a star in several magazines, which Miss Martin believes led to her theft. The thieves broke into a secure unit with bolt cutters to steal the three-year-old dog but left two other Pointers behind.

A high-profile world-wide campaign to get Tally back was put into action with reports in the national media and 5,000 posters put up across England.

"Nine weeks later it worked", said Miss Martin, a veterinary nurse.Mrs Dewhurst added: "She was possibly stolen to order possibly for breeding.

"Once they found out she was such a top dog they realised she was too hot to handle and passed her on or dumped her."