A grandmother was left feeling 'sick and scared ' after she received a chilling ransom demand for her stolen dog . Vivienne Garton , 65 , was devastated her 10-year-old West Highland terrier Ben was snatched from her garden in Knowle West , Bristol , earlier this month . She began an appeal to find him and put up posters near her home , but shortly after she received two phone calls from an anonymous man threatening to cut up her pet unless she paid £500 . Scared : Vivienne Garton , 65 , has been left devastated after her West Highland terrier Ben was stolen . She put posters ( pictured ) up near her home but since received an anonymous call threatening to cut up the dog . The caller gave the address of an empty house in Bristol and a phone number which she handed to police , who are now investigating . Mrs Garton , who lives with her husband and four grandchildren aged between eight and 18 , says a number of her posters have now been ripped down . ' I feel sick . I have had him for ten years - he is my little baby . I just want him home safe . I 'm so worried . I do n't know who could do that to someone , ' she said . ' I do n't know if it is a hoax or if he has really been stolen by someone . It is scary . It was a man on the phone and he sounded middle aged . He said he would cut Ben up . ' Loving pet : Mrs Garton 's 10-year-old dog is partially sighted , partially deaf and can not walk long distances and has been missing for a fortnight . Ben , who is partially sighted , partially deaf and can not walk long distances , disappeared from the family home on Sunday April 12 . Mrs Garton , who suffers from arthritis , explained that she sent the dog outside because he was hassling her while she was cooking Sunday lunch . But when Ben failed to come back she grew concerned and went outside to find a hole in the hedge . She said that while it was possible he could have escaped it was very out of character and was unlikely that he would n't return . She said : 'There was a little hole in the hedge that he might have got through , but it is very out of character for him not to come back . 'We went straight out looking for him but there has been no sign of him ever since . I am worried he has been stolen and somebody has him in their garage . ' A social media campaign , started by her neighbours , is becoming increasingly popular in the hope of returning the pet . She added : 'Friends in the area have been great and I have so much support from people . We are all worried sick and must have driven about 300 miles in the past week just looking for him . 'Sometimes we cross paths with other people out doing the same thing . The entire family is worried and stressed out about him . We 've always been a dog-loving family - I have had dogs ever since I was little . Ben is the smallest one we 've ever had and he is a member of the family now . ' A spokeswoman for Avon and Somerset police said : 'We have received reports of threatening phone calls in relation to a lost dog . We are investigating an incident of blackmail . ' Devastated : Mrs Garton says she has been left feeling 'sick and scared ' after receiving the calls , which have now been reported to the police are investigating an incident of blackmail .
Caller , 65 , was devastated when her 10-year-old dog was stolen . She started appeal to find him but received a call from anonymous man . Vivienne Garton threatened to cut up her West Highland terrier unless she paid £500 . He gave address of empty house and police are investigating the blackmail .