A pet owner is cruelly being targeted by pranksters two months after her beloved dog suddenly went missing. Katie Wright, who is expecting a child, regularly receives brutal anonymous phone calls telling her that nine-year-old Bucky has been killed.
The mum-to-be is still desperately searching for her pooch, who was seen being "chased by a man" and suspectedly stolen on Thursday, June 9, in Rubery. Despite all the heartache, Katie, 36, is now being tormented by sick pranksters who found her number on the missing dog posters, Birmingham Live reports.
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The veterinary receptionist said: "There are people still pulling down all the posters. We are still getting a lot of hoax phone calls.
"We are not sure if it is kids because of the summer holidays or just people being generally not very nice.
"Somebody said they had sold him on and we should stop looking. And then laughing. So we know it is most likely not true because we're still getting sightings.
"It's just constant not very nice phone calls with people telling us he's dead and things like that. It's not very nice."
More than 300 flyers have been handed out by the local neighbourhood with search teams on standby to go out looking for Bucky.
He has been spotted a number of times, including this weekend, but without confirmed sightings and a photograph, the search team cannot go out.
When the tan-coloured border terrier first went missing in June, neighbours came together to track down the sweet pooch, who has epilepsy and needs regular blood tests and medication.
Katie added: "We want people to keep their eyes out for him if they are in the area.
"The one thing we are having an issue with is when people are possibly seeing him they need to take a photo of him and confirm it's him.
"Try not to chase him or call him just take a picture of him and let us know straight away.
"If someone does have him, hand him into a vet. It's theft by finding if you find him and keep him. It's a criminal offence."
A spokesperson for West Midlands Police said: "We've been told that the border terrier escaped and the owner put up posters in the area.
"Since then, the owner has reported that they have had calls from a man claiming to have her pet. From questioning the people, the woman knew the calls were fake but she has rightly reported them to us."
If you have seen Bucky or have any information please contact K9 SEARCH UK via email at alerts@k9searchuk.com.
Do you have a dog story to share? Email nia.dalton@reachplc.com.