Scores of animals have been stolen in the Black Country over the last year, new figures reveal.

The total number of animals recorded as “crime against property” in the four Black Country boroughs in the last year was 110, these include animals stolen or lost.

The haul includes more than 20 birds taken from Bloxwich and six dogs stolen from the West Bromwich area.

Some of them were later recovered but some still missing. The figures, released under the Freedom of Information Act, show that the biggest number of crimes involving animals was in the Bloxwich area where 24 birds, seven dogs, one horse and four unspecified animals were stolen.

Walsall and the West Bromwich area both recorded 13 thefts each – five dogs, a bird and seven unspecified animals in Walsall, and two birds, six dogs and five unspecified animals in West Bromwich.

The next biggest haul was in north Dudley, where two birds, seven dogs and three unspecified animals were stolen.

In the Wednesfield area of Wolverhampton, four dogs were listed as stolen along with two horses and four unspecified animals. Last year, across the eight areas of the Black Country covered by West Midlands Police, 41 dogs were stolen along with 33 birds, three horses, one reptile and 32 unspecified animals.

Some of them were listed as lost and others listed as recovered but most remain stolen.

High-profile cases include the theft of Kodi, the four-year-old Siberian husky who was dragged out of the back garden of a home in Heath Lane, West Bromwich, on December 1. But after CCTV images of the theft were printed in the Express & Star, along with a desperate plea by his distraught owners, the culprit was identified. In another well known case a prolific burglar who stole a family’s beloved pedigree chihuahua was locked up for five years.

Richard Pincher, who had 29 previous convictions for burglary, took two-year-old Enzo, from Louise Johnson’s house in Black Lake, West Bromwich, on May 12 last year. The dog has never been recovered.

West Midlands Police spokeswoman Zoe Coward said: “If there is evidence to suggest a pet has been stolen that would be considered to be crime against property under the Theft Act 1968, and would be investigated by police.”