A Northumberland family has issued a plea for the safe return of their son's deaf therapy dog after it went missing along the River Tyne.
Cockapoo Bob went missing on the south side of the river at Corbridge on the morning of Thursday June 15 and has not been spotted since. Though the Voysey family of Riding Mill are desperate for his safe return, Bob has a particular bond with 15-year-old Oliver, with the pair have being inseparable since Bob's adoption almost a year ago.
Oliver, who suffered a brain injury at birth, is in a wheelchair and Chronicle readers may remember that he raised £178,000 for the Lake District Calvert Trust during the Coronavirus pandemic, helping the charity to survive. In a video on Facebook, the 15-year-old and his mum Sarah have issued a plea to get the beloved family pet home.
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Sarah said: "Bob stays by Oliver's side in his wheelchair all the time. Oliver strokes him when he's worried and that makes him feel better.
"Bob is the thing that makes Oliver happy. Without Bob, Oliver is so sad that he's really struggling to eat and sleep and is having seizures, please bring Bob home to us."
Bob is currently training to be a certified therapy dog, with he and Oliver able to communicate through sign language. His younger sister Elizabeth, 11, has been doing the "fun stuff" such as teaching him to play fetch, and the trio "make a real team", according to mum Sarah.
Speaking to ChronicleLive, Sarah said Bob has been a comfort to the whole family since his adoption during a difficult year. Oliver has been diagnosed with a condition unrelated to his brain injury which is causing the deterioration of his spine, and he is now unable to feel his hands and feet.
Sarah, who works for the environment agency continued: "We've had an awful year, being in and out of hospital all the time. Bob has comforted us all, I'll be honest, but particularly Oliver, he's just devastated.
"It's just so horrible for a mum to watch, he is totally lost without Bob. He has autism as well so he keeps getting stuck in a rut asking where Bob is."
Since Bob's disappearance, Sarah says she has been out for 15 hours each day searching Bob, whose first birthday is on Thursday coming, and has even slept in the Corbridge Village car park in the hope that he returns to the car. She has had support from up and down the country, with the donation of a thermal drone from Manchester, members of the community taking thermal cameras out an assisting her, and national search teams and a volunteer search dog all on the lookout.
A Facebook group has also been set up to share information on where Bob might be with more than 800 members at the time of writing. Sarah said: "We have been through the most horrific experience as pet owners, the only positive has been the most overwhelming response.
"What I've been totally bowled over with is that people have dropped everything in their lives. I've just been overwhelmed really with the team that have come together to search for Bob."
Sarah says that getting Bob back would mean everything. She finished: "It would mean so, so much just to see Oliver happy again after the most horrendous year so far.
I can't make it better for him without getting bob back. As people say it would mean everything, children's happiness is everything."
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