Family’s pet dogs gone without trace

Lucy Jackson, 18 (left), holds Max, and Jamie Hall, 18, holds Jesse — the two dogs missing from...
Lucy Jackson, 18 (left), holds Max, and Jamie Hall, 18, holds Jesse — the two dogs missing from Chrystalls Beach near Milton. Photo: supplied
She has searched on foot, on quadbike, even sent a plane up.

She has even consulted a dog tracker from up north.

But, so far, no luck — the searching will go on.

Kylie Jackson, whose family has a section at Chrystalls Beach in South Otago, was working from home on April 4 when her two Jack Russell terriers went missing.

The dogs were last seen around 9am.

The tan and white dogs are a microchipped mother and son who Mrs Jackson said usually stayed very close to home.

"There is a lot of bush on our 2-acre [0.8ha] section, and lots of bush gullies nearby with possums and rabbits, and whilst the dogs would go sniffing, they would always return when called," she said.

"Being terriers they do have a strong hunting drive."

Mrs Jackson had called out for them when she had not seen the pair for a short time — with no response.

"After calling several times during the day, I went looking for them," Mrs Jackson said.

"I went to the neighbours all around me, who said they hadn’t seen them but they would keep an eye out.

"Being terriers, I thought I’d see what happened overnight before I completely panicked.

"Then the next day came and with no sign of them, I took to social media and got in touch with various local groups, asking them to keep an eye out or let me know if they hear anything.

"My daughter Lucy made lost dog posters which we put up around the beach area and in Milton, and contacted the vets and council and such."

She is worried but grateful for the support from community members so far.

"So far I have had neighbours take me up on a quadbike to an area they thought they heard dog yapping noises where we searched but couldn’t see or hear anything, and some kind people from Bull Creek asked their brother-in-law, pilot Alan Wright, to do a flyover with a small plane to see if he could see anything.

"Sadly he couldn’t see them.

"It has definitely cheered us up to see many lovely people reach out to say they will look out for the dogs."

She had been in touch with Don Schwass, a dog tracker from Nelson, who said there were many possibilities with what happened to them.

He said they could have wandered into the bush and gone into feral mode, but they should have snapped out of that by now. Someone could have picked them up or they could be trapped in a rabbit hole.

"It’s hard to know and it’s really hard not knowing, as they are family," Mrs Jackson said.

evelyn.thorn@odt.co.nz