An Aberdeenshire man building the region’s first sled-dog centre has been left “gutted” after thieves dealt his labour of love a major blow.
Thieves targeted Huskyhaven, which is currently being built at Netherley, near Stonehaven, by Wattie McDonald.
They made off with a racing sled made from scratch and a cart also towed by his pack of 14 huskies earlier this month.
Mr McDonald – who has been working to establish a place to promote sled dog racing in the north-east after travelling to Alaska to participate in races since 2008 – was away on a stag-do in Benidorm when the thieves struck.
The sled and cart are both about 6ft in length and together are worth about £2,000, with the latter often used for charity events in the local area.
Mr McDonald said: “It is just under construction at the moment. We had a lot of problems getting through the planning process, we’re finally getting things together and then this happens. It is just a bummer. I’m a bit gutted.
“It was just the two sled dog related things that were stolen. I have put a few feelers out for people in the area. It seems to me someone who knew it was there. I have put the word out to most sled dog groups I know.”
Police say the theft took place between Friday, January 15 and Saturday, January 16.
The sled features a pale wood timber basket seating section, white plastic handlebars and runners; whilst the cart is silver and is fitted with three wheels.
The musher added: “We’d just built the sled, it belonged to a friend of mine. We’d built it less than a week before it went missing. It was disappointing.
“The wheel cart was built a few years ago, it was pretty well used but in good condition.
“I was in the yard on the Friday the 15th and went away on the Saturday. When I came back I noticed the stuff was missing.”
The father-of-three added the land at Netherley was the “ideal location” for sled racing.
He said: “We got together afterwards and decided that this is not going to get us down.”
Huskyhaven will feature memorabilia from his Alaskan races, with visitors able to enjoy a sled ride with his pack of huskies – using sleds with wheels when there is no snow.
Mr McDonald said he is still determined to get Huskyhaven up and running in memory of his late wife.
He had struggled to motivate himself for sometime to continue with the project – which was the dream of both him and wife, Wendy – after she passed away in October 2013 following a cancer battle.
He added: “The whole project has been very difficult for us. It was actually a dream of mine and my wife.
“When I lost her in October 2013 that just put a dampener on the whole thing as you can imagine.
“I had to get my head together to get this off the ground in my wife’s memory.”