A FACEBOOK campaign could be the key to finding missing Staffordshire bull terrier Chaos.
When Lyndsey Harding’s dog went missing on March 25, from outside an office in Woodside, off Hinksey Hill in Oxford, she contacted the police.
The 21-year-old wanted to do everything she possibly could to get Chaos back, so she put up posters across the city featuring a picture and a description of the 19-month-old pet.
And she launched a dedicated page for the bull terrier on the social networking site Facebook – it now has 2,839 members.
Ms Harding was putting Chaos in her car when he ran off and disappeared.
She bought the dog with her boyfriend Jamie Boswell, 21, when the dog was eight weeks old.
She said: “Chaos is a male dog and could have been stolen for breeding.
“But my worst fear is that he has been stolen for fighting.
“It’s hard to get people to take an interest in missing dogs, but people from different parts of the country have been showing their support.
“I think the Facebook page is doing some good and I would like to think that it will lead to Chaos being found. I’m absolutely heartbroken without him and I’m so worried about where he is.”
At the time he went missing, Chaos was wearing a blue harness with a silver chain attached and is microchipped.
He has a white chest and is not neutered.
Last year, Internet entrepreneur Nick Carpenter, 36, set up Oxfordshire Animal Finders from his home in Bicester after he lost Cooper, one of his pet cats.
As part of the initiative, hundreds of volunteers signed up to a Pet Watch scheme, a countywide network of people kept informed of missing and lost animals.
In the six months after it went online there were more than 200 reports of lost and stolen pets, of which half were reunited with their owners. The service is free. The website lists pets reported missing from all over the county and sends details to the RSPCA, Cats Protection and local veterinary surgeries.
Volunteers receive a text message or email update on any animals that might be missing in their area.
Ms Harding, who is offering an undisclosed sum as a reward for information leading to the dog’s return, added: “People from as far away as Essex, London and Cornwall have been contacting me on Facebook with messages of support, and they have printed off the poster and put it up in their local vets in case Chaos turns up.
“People in Blackbird Leys have also printed off posters and put them in local taxis.
“I contacted Mr Carpenter and he was very helpful. He tracked down a dog to a travellers’ site, but it turned out not to be Chaos.”
Anyone with information can call Ms Harding on 07769 185413.
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