A TOP-SELLING crime writer is backing efforts to find a doctor’s dog which has been lost for almost three months.

Peter James shared an appeal in a bid to find beloved cockapoo Bertie.

The five-year-old belongs to husband and wife Dr Zeki Atesli and Siobhan Dodd, from Rottingdean, who described losing their family pet as “the worst kind of heartache”.

Sharing the appeal, Roy Grace author Mr James, who lives in Henfield, said: “He looks so adorable. As a dog lover, I really feel for the owners - heartbreaking to lose any pet that you love.”

Dr Atesli works as an A&E consultant at Eastbourne District General hospital.

Mrs Dodd said: “We’ve hardly slept or hardly eat, everything we’re doing is about Bertie.

“It’s the worst kind of heartache.

“My husband has been returning to the village after shifts to go look for him.”

Bertie is beige and was not wearing a collar.

He was last seen in Telscombe Village on April 22 at about 3pm.

He had been staying at a family friend’s house in Peacehaven when he ran out of the door when it was opened for a postman.

Three months on, despite huge search efforts and an online campaign which has been shared by thousands and seen by many more, he is yet to be found.

Mrs Dodd said: “Initially I thought I couldn’t live through the day, it was all too much.

“Looking for him out there is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

“But the support has been knockout, the number of people who have been looking – droves of people.

“The support is genuinely overwhelming, which makes it all the more frustrating that there are no sightings, but we’re holding our nerve.”

Bertie is cautious around people.

Those who think they might have spotted him should call 07915 063 272 or 07988 287 891.

Do not call out his name or approach him.