Dog-napped: Napier family packed car, boat and dog for holiday, then thieves struck

Zoe the Border Collie was found after being inadvertently stolen, while in a car hooked to a trailer on Friday. Photo / Supplied.

A Napier family had packed up the car, put the boat on the back and even loaded in Zoe the border collie for their summer holiday.

But that was as far as they got as thieves stole the car, the boat and, inadvertently, the dog in a daring raid outside their Kennedy Rd address on Friday afternoon.

It sparked a frantic dog hunt and a social media plea, as police quickly found the stolen 2016 White Honda Accord, and the aluminium boat, but not Zoe.

Zoe the Border Collie was found after being inadvertently stolen, while in a car hooked to a trailer on Friday. Photo / Supplied.

She was still missing until Napier woman Fiona Bishop used her "gut instinct" to track down the missing pooch.

"We thought we would go and have a look because it was really pulling at my heart strings," Fiona Bishop said.

Her husband and son joined in. They searched around Napier Boys' High School, with no luck, and even looked around the shops thinking she would be smelling food.

However, a "gut instinct" to search down the street where the car had been found proved right. "We went down Lister Cres and there she was."

"She was very frightened. It took my 16-year-old son, my husband and I to manage to catch her," Bishop said.

"Once we got her in the ute and she calmed down, she was a lovely girl. She was just really scared."

They had seen a police car during their travels, but ended up finding Zoe's number on her collar.

"There was a welcoming party. The whole family was there. They were so happy," Bishop said.

She said the family were planning on going on holiday when the drama unfolded and had all their belongings in the car.

It is not the first time Bishop has tried to find a missing item, but usually her searches end in nothing.