A prize greyhound worth up to £1million (NZ$1.78m) has been snatched from its kennels in an audacious overnight theft.
Police in Ireland are investigating after star greyhound Clares Rocket was snatched from the kennels of trainer Graham Holland in County Tipperary in the early hours of Monday (local time).
The two-year-old dog has won more than €50,000 in prize money, and is thought to be worth upwards of €1 million in stud fees.
The crime has echoes of the theft of racehorse Shergar, who won the 1981 Derby at Epsom two years before it was stolen from a stud in Ireland.
He was taken by masked gunmen from a stable in County Kildare, and never seen again, after the thieves' demands for a ransom were not met.