After the entire village of Allenwood, Co Kildare had been questioned, 10 days had been spent combing the surrounding areas and the dozens of posters put up by the heartbroken O'Connor children had yielded not even one reported sighting of the little King Charles puppy, the family were left with no other conclusion. Mossy had been stolen.

And he is just one of the hundreds of dogs who are disappearing here every year.

As the demand for pedigree breeds increases among Irish dog owners, so too has a nasty phenomenon . . . the theft of these valuable pets. At the same time, Ireland has lagged behind its continental neighbours in terms of dog protection laws and become "the puppy farm capital of Europe" . . . and the dog-stealing business has become very profitable indeed.

"The bottom line is that dognapping is on the increase, " said Peter Banks of irishdogs. ie, which allows owners to post up details of their missing dogs. "In my three years running the website, I have seen a big increase in the number of messages being posted. Dogs are more expensive at the moment and a lot of unscrupulous people see stealing them as an easy moneyspinner."

A King Charles spaniel or a Jack Russell can fetch up to 500 in the current market while toy dogs (such as shih tzus and chihuahuas) and Great Danes can go for between 1,000 and 2,000.

With the present dog exchange rate in the UK, a short ferry trip means they can be sold for the same amount in sterling across the water. In the 11-day period before Christmas last year 417 dogs were transported by ferry from Larne to Scotland.

"This is big business, " said Stephen Philpott of the Ulster Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (USPCA). "We have tracked trucks that start in the Republic of Ireland, go up through Ulster, across to Scotland and down as far as Essex. They are going through remote areas and picking up animals from puppy farms. Some of these places hold up to 700 dogs at a time. We are talking serious money."

Both the ISPCA and USPCA firmly believe that the majority of dogs stolen in Ireland are sent on to puppy farms, where they live in cramped and desperate conditions and can be forced to produce up to five litters a year. It is these litters that bring in the cash, as pedigree pups such as border collies, coxers, labradors, springer spaniels and German shepherds are mass produced and shipped to the UK for sale.

When the bitches have exhausted their breeding purposes, they are disposed of.

Puppy farming is a problem in the UK and Northern Ireland, but in the Republic it has got entirely out of hand.

While the UK authorities work with dog protection legislation from the 1970s, Ireland is still going by regulations dating back to 1911.

"We have a terrible name in Europe, " said Mark Beazley of the ISPCA. "The Republic of Ireland has become the main supplier of poor-quality puppies to the UK and the continent. But we haven't got the facilities to close down these farms. To put it bluntly, there is neither the political will nor assistance from the gardai to help us deal with it."

Under the 1911 legislation, the ISPCA has no statutory powers of entry or seizure. If an act of cruelty is reported, its staff are not legally allowed into a premises without a member of the gardai or an authorised county council officer present. Nine times out of 10, the council staff are too mindful of litigation to act, according to Beazley, while "in a lot of cases with the gardai, the will is not there to deal with animal cruelty".

Last January, the USPCA (which has more powers than the ISPCA) raided a puppy farm in Co Down and recovered numerous stolen dogs, including one that had been stolen from Jeffrey Donaldson's secretary Paul Stewart.

"They were locked in sheds and chained to walls in appalling conditions, " said Philpott. "When a car is stolen it always reappears eventually, perhaps in a different form. For years, people have wondered why stolen pedigree puppies never reappear.

This is where they are going."

While the O'Connor family hasn't given up hope that Mossy may reappear some day, they're not holding their breath either. "Our fellow was too friendly, too gentle. He wouldn't bark at anything and would trust anyone, " said Louis O'Connor, whose four children were greatly upset when their new puppy vanished last November. "He was a home dog and never allowed out of the house unsupervised. We really thought we did all we could to protect him, but it just shows that if someone wants something, they'll get it."

O'Connor recalled seeing a car with two young men parked down the road from his home the afternoon the puppy disappeared. A ladder was stolen from the side of the house that same day, and not one sighting of the little dog has been reported since.

The O'Connors can only hope he is being well cared for. "It's just been so upsetting, " said Louis O'Connor. "If we just knew he was alright, it wouldn't be so bad."

Clodagh Mulcahy from Carrigrohane, Co Cork expressed the same sentiment. Her eight-year-old shih tzu, Rosie, was taken from just outside their enclosed estate a week before Christmas last year and she is still searching frantically for her.

"You find yourself wondering where she is all the time, " she said. "I have awful visions of where she might have ended up. I had a dog who was killed years ago and that was awful, but at least I knew then what had happened."

Rosie was a longstanding member of the Mulcahy family and had been with Clodagh since before the birth of her six year-old son. She is microchipped, which means that any vet who treats her should be able to scan her and find out where she is from, but as of yet there has been no sign of her.

"She would never leave my side, even standing outside the bathroom door when I was having a shower. Whoever has got her will get no value from her; she really was a one-woman dog."

Mark Byrne's three Bavarian bloodhounds were also microchipped but he has heard nothing about them since they were taken from their enclosed yard in Creggs, Galway on 23 December last. Sheba (8), Aska (6) and Gini (4) worked every day with Byrne, a park ranger with the National Parks and Wildlife Services, helping him find injured deer. They were originally from Germany, where Byrne worked for 16 years, and they only understand German commands.

"It's been like losing part of my family, a best friend, " said Byrne. "I still get a lump in my throat thinking about it. They kept me company every day for the last eight years and they were part of the family as well as working dogs."

The bloodhounds were the only dogs of their kind in the country and are worth up to 3,000 each, but Byrne believes they are no longer in Ireland. "I have so many contacts and there hasn't been even one sighting, " he said. "They're in the UK or on the continent now, I imagine."

In Ireland there are no regulations to prevent the mass shipping of puppies to the UK, which means this country's reputation as the main provider of farmed puppies for Europe can only continue to grow.

"The Republic of Ireland is the puppy farm capital of Europe, " said Stephen Philpott.

"It has the slackest laws and the weakest initiatives and unless serious action is taken by the authorities, this issue is just going to get worse and worse."

PET PROTECTION TIPS

>> Never buy a dog from any source other than a breeder registered with the IKC. Be aware that all reputable breeders have long waiting lists for their dogs and will never advertise in local press. Farmed puppies are inbred, have socialising issues and often develop serious medical problems in later life.

>> Be responsible: know where your dog is at all times and never let him outside alone.

Build an enclosed area in your garden to keep him safe. By law, all dogs must have a collar and ID tag.

>> A pet insurance package, available only from Allianz, covers you "nancially if your dog is lost or stolen. The price ranges from 192 to 228 depending on the size and breed.

>> If your dog is lost or stolen, check with all local pounds, vets and shelters. Leave a description and photo with the local garda station and put up posters in the area.

Post messages online and view found dogs on www. irishdogs. ie and www. lostandfound. ie. The British charity www. doglost. co. uk can help with Irish dogs found in the UK. See www. ispca. ie for more information on lost dogs.

MICROCHIPPING

On 1 January 2006, the Irish Kennel Club (IKC) introduced regulations that dictate that all puppies bred in Ireland must be microchipped prior to registration with the club.

"We hope the introduction of microchipping will help to reduce the number of irresponsible breeders and make it easier for the public to decide who is reputable and who is not, " said the IKC's Wendy Jackson.

However, the fact that microchipped dogs are only traceable when taken to a vet means that those drafted into puppy farms are still unlikely to be recovered. "The microchipping of puppies by the Irish Kennel Club is too little, too late, " said Banks. "It won't stop the illicit trade of dogs and it certainly won't make a dent into the puppy farms."

Despite this, microchipping is the current best protection for your dog and all puppies should have it done at their local vet at the earliest possible date.