Yorkshire couple devastated after mystery letter writer rips down posters of their missing dog and says it's 'stolen or dead'

Valerio Goia and his wife were devastated when Pastis managed to escape through a small hole in the fence of their property, Spa Farm on Northallerton Road, on December 8.

There have been only rumoured sightings since and the couple, who moved to Thirsk from Italy in 2016, have now received a letter accusing them of littering and causing damage to the environment by putting up posters with Pastis' details up around the town.

The anonymous writer said it was most likely Pastis was 'stolen or dead' after six weeks at large, and that they should give up looking for him and remove the posters.

The package included around 60 posters that the sender had ripped down and replacements were then taken from a street in Thirsk on Sunday night.

The sender also quoted passages referring to laws around postering in public places.

Mr Goia, a recruiter, and his wife run an animal rescue from their farm and have rehomed dogs, cats and former battery chickens.

He has reported the dog's disappearance to North Yorkshire Police as a possible theft and plans to speak to officers about retrieving CCTV footage of the posters being removed.

"Our land is double fenced with wire above, it's hard to escape from but we think Pastis must have been scared by something or gone after rabbits. We've been helped by volunteers from Thirsk and we've been postering everywhere," he said.

"We got this anonymous letter and 50-60 of the posters, accusing us of littering and polluting. The new posters were then ripped down too.

"We think it's just one person doing this, but it's ridiculous as I'm a member of Thirsk Rotary Club - we want to keep the town clean and tidy.

"We've been rescuing dogs and cats since 2004, when we were living in Italy, and looking after them is my wife's full-time job. People from Thirsk have been really angry about this.

"If we find Pastis, then of course we will take the posters down - I don't exactly want my address and phone number to be up there forever."

There have been 'four or five' unconfirmed sightings of Pastis in the countryside, and the Goias believe he is still 'wandering' around the area.

"He's been running like crazy from people, so our advice is to not approach him and call us instead."

What did the letter say?

"There is a substanstial collection of plastic litter stretching east to west from Upsall to Baldersby, and north to south from Newsham to Sowerby, which has been slowly degrading and causing plastic residue (A4 sleeves, cable ties, tape) to litter the countryside.

"This sort of trash does not decompose and is a hazard to wildlife. This junk has been littering the area for over four weeks. The chances of the dog's return are extremely limited. It is either not coming home by choice, it has been stolen or it is dead. It is therefore time to remove your detritus.

"Over the past two weeks I have removed possibly 20 from Upsall to Kilvington to Newsham to Sowerby to Skipton on Swale roadsides and binned them. Wet, illegible and somewhat pointless. Enclosed is the latest batch, collected today."