A BELOVED pet goat that vanished from a Suffolk paddock is to be reunited with its owner after a last-minute rescue that saved it from being slaughtered for its meat.

A BELOVED pet goat that vanished from a Suffolk paddock is to be reunited with its owner after a last-minute rescue that saved it from being slaughtered for its meat.

Emma Beckett discovered that the family's pet pigmy goats Cindy and Betty had gone missing overnight last week from their field in Broome, near Bungay.

But a few days later she got a phone call to say that Cindy, who is four years old, had been picked up by an RSPCA animal warden from the back garden of a home in Walthamstow, East London. The warden rescued Cindy after being tipped off that there was about to be an illegal slaughter of a goat for “inhumane” reasons, an RSPCA spokesman confirmed.

The charity was able to track down Cindy's owners thanks to an ear tag that identified her.

For the family it was the second blow, after Ms Beckett's 14-year-old daughter's pet goat Sian disappeared from the same paddock while the family were away on holiday last month.

Ms Beckett said: “The first time we presumed she had either got run over or been eaten by wildlife. The second time it was 100pc they had been stolen - they're too fat to get through any of the fencing.”

Ms Beckett said she wanted to warn other goat-owners about the risk, saying that the thieves would have had to scale a gate to reach the pigmy goats, which are small enough to be picked up easily and have more meat on them than normal goats.

She said that after doing some research since the animals were taken she realised that the theft of pigmy goats in particular was more common than she had thought previously.

She said that the family have put up posters appealing for information and are offering a �50 reward for the return of the two pets that remain unfound.

An RSPCA spokesman advised goat owners to ensure their animals are kept in a secure environment.

Anyone with information should call Norfolk police on 0845 456 4567.