Weekly round-up: Five stories you may have missed

A stolen spaniel, a much-loved alligator and a Bake Off contestant feature among the most-read stories in the south of England this week.

In case you missed them, we have picked five articles from the past seven days across Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Dorset, Berkshire and Oxfordshire to keep you up to date.

A dog stolen as a 10-week-old puppy was reunited with her owner - just over a year after she was taken.

Springer spaniel Breeze was out on a walk with her owner Adam at Stratfield Saye, Hampshire, in August 2025 when she was stolen.

She was found abandoned last month with a severe eye injury near a Thames Water site at Shurlock Row in Berkshire, about 20 miles (32km) from where she was taken.

Breeze, now 15 months old, was identified by her microchip. She had to have an eye removed, but is now recovering at home.

Adam said: "When the RSPCA called me I couldn't believe it; it's amazing to have her home."

A crocodile zoo has said goodbye to one of its "most incredible" inhabitants.

American alligator Albert joined Crocodiles of the World in Brize Norton, Oxfordshire, as an adult in March 2013, and went on to feature in television programmes and crocodilian research.

The zoo said staff made "the incredibly difficult decision to put him to sleep" after a CT scan showed he was "seriously unwell".

At more than 3m (9.8ft) long, he was described as "a gentle giant" who fathered many hatchlings with fellow alligator Daisy.

Founder Shaun Foggett said: "He will be greatly missed by everyone, especially the keepers, both past and present, who have cared for him over the years."

A man who got married and had two children after a heart transplant has thanked his unknown donor's family for his "fantastic, mundane" life.

Kev Rands, from Whiteley, Hampshire, had the operation aged 27, after five years on the waiting list and six open-heart surgeries starting when he was 10 days old.

Fourteen years on, the 41-year-old is married with an 11-year-old daughter and a four-year-old son.

He is backing an NHS campaign warning of a "significant and accelerating decline" in organ donation, as relatives' consent is still needed for donations to go ahead.

"The fact that now I can go to the gym and have two kids is all just because someone said yes," he said.

An HGV service administrator from Dorset has become the first contestant to leave this year's Great British Bake Off.

Danni was eliminated during biscuit week after judge Paul Hollywood said their cookies were "powdery".

Danni, who is vegan, had been unable to taste their cinnamon "Snickerdoodle" cookies because the recipe included cream and butter.

Speaking to BBC Radio Solent, they said they had not expected to make so many friends in the tent.

"Finding love in a group of strangers – that's just beautiful," they said.

Two police forces have teamed up to form a dog team tasked with identifying people involved in spiking.

Thames Valley Police and Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said the six specially trained dogs could detect drugs linked to spiking, including those carried in small quantities or liquid form.

The joint campaign coincides with the start of the university term, when freshers begin going out in a new city.

Dog handler PC Dan Honey said it was often "very difficult" to identify potential offenders, and the dogs gave officers "that proactive insight that these people aren't anonymous anymore".

Campaigner and former Love Island contestant Sharon Gaffka, from Didcot, who was spiked on a night out in 2020, said the dogs "probably would have prevented what happened to me".