The family of an autism comfort dog missing for 19 days, have thanked the public for their help after she was finally located, having suffered fatal injuries.
Rua, a golden labradoodle, had been missing from the Bonnes family home in Randalstown, since July 14 when she was last seen by her owner, Justin, as he was mowing the lawn.
Despite extensive searches by family, friends, members of the public and volunteers for Lost Paws NI, a charity that works specifically to help reunite lost and found pets throughout Northern Ireland there were no reported sightings of Rua.
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After searching across neighbouring lands and the River Maine, asking neighbours and local farmers had they seen her, begging people to check sheds and barns, her owners started to fear Rua had been stolen.
But yesterday, August 1, the truth about the death of the 18-month-old dog, was finally admitted, bringing the huge search operation to an end. It has been established that Rua was fatally injured moments after she left her garden and her remains were buried. She has since been reunited with her devastated family, who washed her body, checked her chip and laid her to rest with dignity and love.
In her short time with the family, Rua had become a lifeline for them, quickly creating new possibilities for Sean Og Bonnes who has autism, becoming his comfort dog and gentle backup in times of anxiety.
Owner and mum-of-four, Ciarrai Bonnes, said now the family will have to learn how to live without their cherished pet.
She said: "It is with the heaviest of hearts that we inform you all that our beautiful Rua will not be returning home to us and has instead crossed rainbow bridge.
"It is not the news that we had all hoped for and we are completely devastated by the loss of our girl.
"We cannot thank enough, everyone of you who has been on this agonising journey with us this last 19 days, we especially want to thank Lost Paws NI for their incredible support, expertise and kindness that they have shown to us from the first point of contact.
"To Lagan Search and Rescue who so willingly gave up their precious time and resources to search the river for Rua.
"To Search and Recuse NI who searched fields upon fields, ditches upon ditches. To Devine Design who printed huge amounts of posters and to all the kind volunteers who distributed them far and wide.
"We want to thank especially the public who were out searching day and night for Rua and to all who provided use of drones, for sharing social media posts and sending messages of support, you don’t know how much this meant to us.
"Rua was a massive part of our family and therefore her loss is enormously painful for us . We will now, somehow, learn to live without Rua, but we will remember the love and friendship she contributed to our family. As our hearts mend in time, her beautiful soul will live on in our home through the wonderful memories of love and happiness she instilled in our hearts."
Thousands of people responded to the DogsLive article about Rua, urging the public to look out for her and make her too hot to handle in the event she had been lifted from her home.
But her family were also met with a number of cruel, crank and fake messages that left them distraught as they tried to find their pet.
Ciarrai said: "One thing we have learned from this horrific journey is that by far, the good in people outweighs the bad. The kindness in our community and farther afield has been incredible and lastly, may God forgive the rest of you."
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