Dawn LittlerA midwife is offering a £15,000 reward for information leading to the discovery of her missing dog
Dawn Littler, 51, from Whitefield in Bury, is offering the cash to anyone who can help find her female Cavapoo, Frankie – who bolted from playing fields in Hyde three years ago.
The apricot Cavapoo has not been seen since she slipped her collar after hearing a firework in October 2022.
“People think I must be crazy, ‘she’s just a dog’ – but my family understand,” said Ms Littler.
She was holidaying with husband, Keith, 55, in Tenerife when their daughter, Megan, informed them their 22-month-old dog was missing.
Frankie was staying at Megan’s home in Hyde when during a walk over the playing fields the Cavapoo bolted at the sudden bang of a nearby firework.
Ms Littler said: “Frankie would’ve already been nervous staying in a new environment, over ten miles away from home – and the firework must have triggered her to flight.”
One emergency flight later the couple were back in Greater Manchester and trawling the streets of Hyde for any sign of their beloved Cavapoo.
She laid food traps, held night time searches, and used drones to look over sections of the Pennine Trail where Frankie could have got stuck.
Three years on she has stopped searching after mentally “getting to a very dark place”.
She said: “I still hope for the best outcome, but there are certain things that I won’t do anymore – for my sanity.
‘Tough time’
“It was a tough time for my family.
“We were all in it together, but they were especially worried about me.
“After she went missing I couldn’t stand to be at home.
“I took leave from my job for four and a half months and walked the streets all day and all night in the freezing cold – sometimes until about three in the morning.
“I would eventually come home, get about four hours sleep, and repeat.
“And when I went back to work, I tried to keep the same momentum going by doing everything I had been doing but in a shorter space of time.
“I stopped caring about anything.”
Ms Littler added that eventually her husband told her she had to stop searching and come home.
Dawn Littler“We had a 12-year-old son at the time – and he needed me.
“He was right – it was too distressing to continue,” she added.
About 15,000 people follow the Facebook page set up to help find Frankie and things have been better since she turned her efforts online – especially after the family began to get help from staff at missing pet charity, Muddy Paws.
The couple and their three daughters have put £3,000 towards a reward for their pet’s return.
She added: “I am very lucky to have three amazing daughters who are willing to contribute to the reward.”
The family have said that “half of the battle is the unknown” and ask if anyone knows anything about Frankie’s disappearance to please come forward.
