Pregnant Pippa stolen from home
A heartbroken Taranaki family is offering a $2500 reward for the return of their beloved pregnant pet dog, who they believe was stolen for her valuable puppies.
Pippa, a three-year-old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, is expecting four cavoodle puppies, which are due next week, owner Margaret Joyce said.
‘‘We’re really worried about the puppies. Pippa was due at the vets on Thursday for a check.’’
The family has camera footage of a car stopping outside their rural house, and a door opening, about 9.15 on Monday night, Joyce said.
Pippa hasn’t been seen since.
‘‘Often she’s inside, but that particular night she wasn’t. And usually we have an electric fence around our property – but it had just gone on the blink – so she usually wouldn’t have gone down the drive, or she’d have got a warning beep in her ear.
‘‘It’s not a long drive, they’d have been pretty game to stop there.’’
Joyce’s daughter Holly, 12, has been so distraught she’s had to have a day off school.
‘‘Pippa’s a family dog, but she’s quite valuable,’’ Joyce said. ‘‘I didn’t think about that in monetary terms, but if the four puppies are worth about $6000 each and Pippa herself is probably worth about $2500. You don’t think about that.’’
The family have posted the reward – no questions asked.
Pippa was a beautiful natured, very loved dog, Joyce said.
‘‘She’s very friendly. My husband, Richard, has a special place where he always sits and if she’s sitting there, and she sees him she’ll move.’’
Joyce suspects someone knew Pippa was pregnant, but the family are not dog breeders.
They have Pippa, and a poodle named Charlie, who occasionally have a litter, she said.
‘‘We looked on Trade Me and cavoodles are available for $6000 each. We didn’t think the market has gone quite mad for them.’’
The family has been to the police, she said.
‘‘And we’ve put it on Trade Me as ‘dog for sale for $200,000’ just to get attention that she’s missing.
‘‘There could be puppies in 7 or 8 weeks that could be somewhere for sale and hopefully people will remember. People will know, because there’s not many of them (cavoodles) around.’’