Rosie, Tony and their sons with Sparky the dog

When Rosie Whitfield, 39, from Croydon had her Jack Russell, Sparky, stolen, her husband came up with a daring plan to get him back

My sons, Anthony, 13, and Johnnie, seven were always begging me and their dad, Tony, to let them have a dog. I wanted one too, but both Tony and I worked. I'm assistant director of music at a boy's school and Tony is an officer in the Queen's Guard. We couldn't leave a dog alone all day, but I knew how disappointed the boys were.

One day - my friend Jamie Langley. 34, announced his Jack Russells Bella and Buster were expecting puppies, "When the pups arrive, you can have one," Jamie told me. At the time. I said we couldn't possibly have a dog but, when the puppies were bom. he brought one round to see us.

When I saw Sparky it was love at first sight. Tony and the boys adored him too, and Tony said he could take him to work with him, as many of the other officers did. Sparky became one of the family. He was a companion for the boys and he'd even play football witn them in the garden. We couldn't imagine life without him.

Then, the unthinkable happened. Tony stopped at a roadside cafe on his way back from work and left Sparky in the van while he bought a bacon sandwich for himself and sausages for Sparky. He returned to the van to find the window had been pushed down, and no sign of our pet - Sparky had been dog-napped. Tony couldn't believe it. He looked under the seats in the van and searched the streets in vain.

I was distraught when Tony broke the news to me. We called Jamie, who helped us look for him, posted appeals on the internet, asked the local dog warden for help and put up posters even/ where - some of them offering a reward of up to £2,000 for the return of our beloved pet. But we heard nothing. After two weeks I was beginning to give up hope of ever seeing him again. I went on a music tour to Italy with the school, but Sparky was, never far from my thoughts.

Then, as I was on my way home, my mobile rang. "Are you the lady whose dog j was stolen?" said a man's voice. "Well, I think I've got your dog," he said. "I saw the posters near the cafe where he was stolen." My heart skipped a beat. None of ihe posters had mentioned anything about where Sparky was stolen. He must be the thief.

The man, who introduced himself as 'Paul', said his friend 'Joe' had found Sparky wandering the streets and had taken care of him. I didn't believe a word of it. Then they demanded the reward of £2,000 for Sparky's safe return. I was scared - he made it clear we wouldn't be getting him back unless he got the money. I knew we were probably dealing with unsavoury characters. The polce have since told us it's possible Paul was part of a drugs gang wanting the money to feed their habits.

But I was desperate to get Sparky back. I asked Paul to speak to Tony and Jamie and they arranged to meet with the men to exchange Sparky for the cash. Then Tony and Jamie came up with an ingenious plan. They used a guillotine to cut up a newspaper into the shape of banknotes, wrapped four £20 notes around them and admired their handiwork - a reasonably realistic "wad" of cash, which they hoped would fool Paul and his friend.

I was terrified we'd be rumbled and begged Tony not to try to con these people. We called the police, but they couldn't arrange undercover surveillance at such short notice, so Tony and Jamie decided to go it alone.

They met five friends who were to act as reinforcements to finalise the plan. The boys and I waited nervously at home.

They then went to the meeting point - a Little Chef car park just outside Croydon. The friends hid while Tony and Jamie waited for the dog-napper. An hour later a scar-faced, musclyy man pulled up in a car. "Show me the money," he said, Tony flashed the wad of "cash" and replied, "Show me the dog, we don't want trouble. Have you called the police?" said Paul. "I just want my dog back." replied Tony calmly.

Paul rang his mate Joe, who pulled into the car park in a white van. He opened the door to reveal Sparky inside, He went crazy when he recognised Tony, but he was chained up so he couldn't escape. Joe released Sparky and demanded the money.

Tony handed over the cash and, as he went to count it. Tony knew he had to act. He made a grab for the dog and as he did Jamie shouted, "Go, go, go" and the friends who were waiting in cars rushed in. The dog-nappers were terrified. Thinking the game was up, they threw the money back at Tony, jump into the van and sped out of the car park.

Back at home, the boys and I welcomed home the conquering heroes. We toasted their success with champagne while Sparky tucked into a steak.

The thieves had kept him for three weeks and he'd doubled in size. He had obviously been fed well, although he was suffering from a bit of a cough, perhaps from being kept with other dogs,

The celebration was in full swing when we had a call from Paul in an awful state. He asked Tony not to take things further and said he didn't want any trouble. We didn't get the police involved -Tony said he had got his dog back and wanted nothing more to do with Paul and his friend.

The week after Sparky's dramatic rescue we were all together again to celebrate Jamie and his girlfriend Roz's wedding. It was a wonderful day. Jamie had been so worried about getting Sparky back for us he had hardly had time to think about it. We couldn't have done it without him. He and Tony were real heroes that day. And Sparky has also got a girlfriend - a Labrador called Tinterbell. He met her at training class, where I've been trying to teach him never to go off with strangers...'

Additional research: Daniel Lloyd. Pictures: Eamonn McCormack/ Eagle Press/ Bigpicturesphoto.com/ BWP Media