Pet lambs stolen in Hastings reunited with owners

Alexia Barbarouses holds Pantelidis and her mother, Maria Barbarouses, holds Willis. The two lambs were stolen but later returned. Photo/Warren Buckland

A soon-to-be married Hastings couple were reunited with their "babies" yesterday afternoon after they were stolen.

Alexia Barbarouses and Rikki Dewes' two pet lambs, Wilis (seven weeks) and Pantelidis (10 weeks), were taken from their Allerton St, St Leonards, home on Sunday afternoon, but were found after being resold on Facebook.

After a quiet Monday morning with no "baas" to wake her up Ms Barbarouses was buzzing when at lunchtime she was told she could go pick them up after work.

"I am so stoked. I can't believe it. I didn't think we would get them back. When I went and collected them they came sprinting over to me like they knew exactly who I was, it was beautiful."

The lambs were taken when the couple had left to visit family at 3pm to help organise their upcoming wedding. They popped home at 6pm to feed the lambs when they found them missing.

Ms Barbarouses said the lambs had a large back section to roam in which was closed off by a gate that was unused and had a big rock in front of it.

On Sunday, the rock had been moved, the gate was open and the lambs were gone.

Ms Barbarouses called the police and knocked on neighbours' doors but no one had seen anything. There were a few lamb droppings on the footpath down the road but nothing else.

"How does no one see anything?"

Ms Barbarouses had her "baby boys" for six weeks before they were taken and they still needed bottles three times a day.
"I am so happy and so thankful to Melissa for telling me she had bought them not knowing they were stolen. The only thing gone was their collars so we were pretty lucky in the end really."

Ms Barbarouses had always wanted a lamb so when the couple bought their own house getting the pets was one of the first things they did. The lambs were good company for her because her partner was at work a lot.