A distraught pet owner has spent more than £20,000 and travelled 10,000 miles across the UK to try to find her stolen dog.
Heartbroken Mel Clements, 54, has vowed to never give up searching for her beloved three-year-old chihuahua named Piglet who vanished seven months ago.
She believes he was taken in a burglary on a boat where she was staying with friends in Harefield, near Uxbridge in west London, on March 28 this year.
She has been living in her Volvo for much of the time since, travelling the length and breadth of the country to hunt for Piglet and put up posters – from northernmost John o’ Groats in Scotland to Land’s End in Cornwall.
Ms Clements, from Belper in Derbyshire, has also sent posters to Royal Mail offices across the country – and wellwishers have rallied to help by putting up posters where they live while also sharing pleas for information on Facebook pages.
Mel Clements, 54, has appealed for help finding her three-year-old chihuahua Piglet
The heartbroken pet owner from Belper in Derbyshire has been travelling across the country trying to trace the dog which went missing in March this year
Posters urging anyone with information to get in touch have been pasted in locations across the UK as well as being shared on Facebook groups
While staying on a friend’s barge moored at Coppermill Lane lock in Harefield, she had paid a visit to a dentist – returning to find the boat had been broken into and her dog was no longer there.
Ms Clements delayed going back to her home in the Derbyshire Dales, living in her car for three months while scouring the area looking for her beloved pet.
She was so desperate, she even spent nights in woods and fields hoping she might come across him.
She also walked for miles and miles up and down the Grand Union Canal where the barge had been moored, having only meant to stay there for two nights.
Faced with losing her job as a cook as well as her home, she eventually went back to Derbyshire but has continued a relentless campaign in the hope of being reunited with the pet she calls ‘my boy’.
She has driven all over the UK, putting up posters which show Piglet’s picture and promote the fact that there is a £4,000 reward available to try to get him back.
She said: ‘The first three days, I walked for 118 miles.
‘Most days in the first three months, I walked all day and night – looking for him and putting up posters. Non stop. Alone. What else could I do?’
Ms Clements, who estimates she has driven 10,000 miles and spent more than £20,000 in her mission, has won the support of animal lovers across the country after joining more than 1,500 Facebook groups in order to spread the word.
Mel Clements has vowed never to give up the search for missing chihuahua Piglet
Her pet dog Piglet is three years old and cost her £1,400 when adopting him
The dog went missing when Mel Clements had been staying on a friend’s barge moored at Coppermill Lane lock in Harefield, near Uxbridge in west London
She fears that Piglet could have been stolen by burglars raiding the boat seven months ago
Ms Clements, 54, has been sharing photographs of her pet Piglet – with animal lovers posting messages of support in response
Mel Clements has travelled across the country to put up posters appealing for help, including at northernmost John o’ Groats in Scotland
She has also travelled to the other end of the UK, Land’s End in Cornwall
Wellwishers have sent gift tokens, mailed the posters to veterinary practices and Royal Mail offices to display and also contributed to a GoFundMe page which has so far raised almost £4,000.
Ms Clements has thanked people for their support while vowing to continue her efforts to track down Piglet, who cost her £1,800 when she adopted him.
She said: ‘I’ve driven everywhere, physically putting posters up in all the motorway service stations too.
‘I’ve also been travelling around the country to all the different canal networks, putting posters up.
‘I have never stopped shouting for my boy. Without him, I am nothing. He spoiled me every day. He deserves nothing less.’
She says Piglet had been spotted several times near the canal side in the first week after his disappearance, leading her to think he could have run off due to being terrified at the presence of the intruders.
She is unsure whether someone has since kept Piglet for themselves, giving him refuge without knowing she is frantically looking for him, or has sold him to someone else who is unaware of the circumstances.
In her latest Facebook update today, she wrote: ‘Where is my boy? Someone somewhere has the answers.
‘I’m not sure which scenario is worse. If his “jailer” is aware of my search, they can’t have a heart and my poor boy can’t be being cared for as he should be. .
Mel Clements, pictured with Piglet in a photo she shared on Facebook, said: ‘I have never stopped shouting for my boy. Without him, I am nothing’
She added of Piglet (pictured): ‘He spoiled me every day. He deserves nothing less’
She says Piglet was spotted several times near the canal side in the first week after his disappearance, leading her to think he could have run off after being terrified by intruders
While staying on a friend’s barge at Coppermill Lane lock in Harefield, she had paid a visit to a dentist – returning to find the boat had been broken into and her dog was no longer there
‘Or maybe just maybe they don’t know I’m looking for him or who he is. If that’s the case what chance do I have of ever seeing him again.’
Ms Clements, who has said she would be ‘happy to walk a million miles if I have to’, said of Piglet: ‘He is my life. I have no next of kin. He really is my only family member.
‘Every Thursday, I relive the whole scenario of my return to the boat. Face swollen and numb from three fillings, I couldn’t wait to see my boy for kisses. Instead, all I’ve had since then is a feeling of dread, heartbreak and emptiness.’
She appealed for anyone with information to send her a message on on the ‘Find stolen Piglet, Harefield UB9’ Facebook group.