Sussex family of missing dog Pepper will 'never give up'

We reported how Pepper, a ten-year-old Cocker Spaniel and Springer Spaniel cross, went missing from her home in Rowfant near Crawley on Tuesday, April 6.

After she disappeared, her owners Nicola, Nicholas and Frankie Penn shared a post on Facebook, appealing to people to come forward with information about Pepper’s whereabouts.

The post now been shared more than 22,000 times and hundreds of people have offered to help them family with their efforts.

Nicola, 62 says that the family have received “cruel” calls from people taunting them about Pepper’s disappearance.

But they have also been “overwhelmed” with the genuine support they have received.

She said: “While we have had the hoax callers, those people are outnumbered many thousands of times over.

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“We just want those extra kind people to continue to share, be extra vigilant for their own dogs behaviour and to think back and remember if they have seen something suspicious or heard something around the time Pepper disappeared.

“Have they someone with a new puppy? The new puppy may have come from a puppy farm which might lead them back to our dog.

“We want to appeal to people to go a step further than sharing.”

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Nicola says the family are growing increasingly concerned for Pepper’s welfare as she has always been such as “timid and gentle soul.”

“We bred her from our dog and we kept Pepper because she was the timid one,” said Nicola.

"Even when we would run around the garden with the puppies, calling them to get them used to their name, if she heard a noise, she would run under the veranda. We always knew where she was.

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“She was a home dog.”

The family are determined to continue to find Pepper and to help other owners find their missing dogs.

Nicola said: “We are not going to give up. We will not give up looking for her.

"We owe it to our dog that she can come here and spend the rest of her old age in our loving care.

“We are not giving up.

“If we never see Pepper again it will be a tragedy but if could help get one dog back that will be a little help to us emotionally.”

Anyone with any information about Pepper’s whereabouts is asked to call 07768026767.

In January, Sussex Police launched a dedicated operation ‘Op Collar’, led by the Rural Crime Team, to respond to and help prevent dog thefts.

Anyone with information about a suspected stolen dog is asked to email dogtheft@sussex.pnn.police.uk.