A PET-mad mum has been left distraught by the theft of her beloved dog and a number of her birds, taken in the early hours of today. Now Derren Guillou is dreading the moment she has to break the news to her animal loving children when they return from ho

A PET-mad mum has been left distraught by the theft of her beloved dog and a number of her birds, taken in the early hours of today.

Now Derren Guillou is dreading the moment she has to break the news to her animal loving children when they return from holiday.

"I am absolutely devastated, thieves have taken my eight-month old Siberian Husky called Dusty," said 35-year-old Derren, of Chapnall Road, Wisbech.

"He has a problem with diarrhoea, and if the person who has him fails to give him the right food, there will be problems, he needs special food."

Dusty and a second Siberian Husky had been kept on leads in a kennel by Derren's back door.

Police believe thieves used a wheelie bin to scale a fence and gain access to the garden.

The stolen birds - eight budgies and a �350 conyer - had been in cages out in the garden, covered with a quilt.

"My nine-year-old son Nathaniel had been in the process of teaching the conyer called Stacey-Jade," said Derren. "He wanted to show her."

"My 14-year-old daughter Trudy-Anne and my son will be really upset when they hear the news, thankfully they are not here at the moment. It has all been a great shock."

The Guillou family have a menagerie of pets at their home, thieves had opened the cages where around 100 rabbits are kept, and the mice, rabbits, and chickens were all left behind.

"On Wednesday morning I had fed the terrapins in the kitchen, and then I opened the back door to see the dog leads on the floor, and no dogs. I found my second Siberian Husky, called Dixie, at the bottom of the garden."

Anyone with information is asked to call the police on 0345 4564564 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111, or call the Wisbech Standard on 01354 652621 and ask for news desk.