JUST two months after having his innocence and good nature taken advantage of by a thief who stole his brand new bike, Todd Payne was last week dealt another devastating blow when his beloved puppy Kesha was allegedly snatched from his yard.

But thanks to the hard work and diligence of Warwick police, Todd’s beloved pooch was yesterday returned to him and his family.

The Payne family got the puppy from a friend about six weeks ago and mum Liz said Kesha went missing on the first day of the school holidays.

“She is so friendly. If someone would have called her she would have come,” she said.

Ms Payne said a large group of teenagers was seen walking past her home about the same time Kesha went missing.

Ms Payne contacted police on Friday to report the puppy missing.

Less than 48 hours later, police arrived at the Payne household with a dirty and slightly malnourished Kesha, who was visibly excited to be home.

“When the police came they had her in the back and I just called out ‘Kesha’ and she came running out,” Ms Payne said.

“The police said ‘you can definitely tell she is your dog’.”

Ms Payne said police discovered the pooch just blocks from the Payne home.

She said Kesha now needed a good bath and a thorough vet check.

On Saturday the Payne children expressed their grief at having had their beloved family pet stolen.

They were visiting their father yesterday when Kesha was returned home.

“You should have heard Todd and the boys – they nearly cried,” Ms Payne said.

“I’m just so happy. I really didn’t think we would get her back.”

The family was shocked at having to deal with this situation so shortly after Todd had his bike stolen.

The trusting eight-year-old allowed a 15-year-old boy to ride the bike he got as a birthday present a month beforehand, and naively waited for the heartless teen to return with the bike after watching him ride away.

Ms Payne said Todd and older brother Adrian rode their bikes to the skatebowl earlier that day and watched the boy ride up Weewondilla Hill on Todd’s bike.

“I started to get worried because they weren’t home and it was getting dark so I called them,” she said.

“They were both really upset and said they were waiting for this kid to come back with the bike.

“They waited half an hour. I just don’t know what this kid was thinking.

“Todd was just devastated and they haven’t been to the skatebowl since.”

Ms Payne said the Warwick police had been fantastic to her family and managed to recover the stolen bike after the thief took it back to the skatebowl.

“The police have been amazing – I can’t fault them,” she said.

“I just want to thank them for everything. They have been wonderful.”

A Warwick police spokesman said officers were concerned about Kesha’s welfare and some had looked for the puppy while off-duty.

He said while investigations were continuing, it appeared at this stage the puppy had been stolen.