Missing dog link to daughter

The mother of a pregnant Northland teenager, killed when a drunk driver crashed into her parked car, has called on the public to help find her late daughter’s treasured dog.

Rippa, a playful 11-month-old Staffie-cross, is the last physical link Moerewa mum Sarah Rihari has to her 18-year-old daughter Nga Roimata Beattie-rihari and unborn granddaughter, Pryncess Diana, who both died in April last year.

“When I’m grieving for my baby and my granddaughter, Rippa comforts me. When I’m crying he comes over to me and gives me hugs and kisses,” Rihari said. “It’s like Roimata went into him and is there for us.”

Her daughter and her boyfriend had adopted Rippa, pictured above, from friends in March last year. But on April 19, Beattie-rihari and Pryncess Diana were killed when Ioakimi Sale, 43, of Moerewa, ploughed into the back of the parked car the mother-to-be was sitting in.

The registered and chipped pup went missing last Thursday when Rihari left Rippa at home with family while she went shopping in Kerikeri about 5pm. She has asked the public to keep an eye out for Rippa and to drop him at any nearby vet clinic or contact an animal rescue group.