Serge and Sharron Bonnafoux, pictured with their dog Trout, will never give up hope of finding their beloved dog Skoota. Photo / Jenny Ling
Serge and Sharron Bonnafoux, pictured with their dog Trout, will never give up hope of finding their beloved dog Skoota. Photo / Jenny Ling
Northland couple Serge and Sharron Bonnafoux will never give up hope of finding their beloved dog Skoota.
Every night Serge spends up to three hours posting reminders and updates of the feisty little Jack Russell-foxy cross to 63 social media pages, including his own dedicated Facebook page.
They don't know whether Skoota, who went missing from Waipapa on October 26, 2021, is dead or alive – they just want answers to find closure.
"It's unbearable," Serge said.
"You can imagine when you lose a child, the kind of situation it puts you in.
"For us our dogs are family, so losing Skoota is like losing a member of the family.
"Not knowing is the worst part ... we don't have a way for any closure."
The couple usually live in Hanmer Springs in the South Island but have been staying in Waipapa for the past six months to look after Sharron's mother's estate after she died.
The last time the couple saw their cherished pet he was playing around the farm buggy Serge had parked up in the courtyard on the property.
"He went missing not even 48 hours after we arrived," Serge said.
"We know Skoota, he's a shy boy, he would not have ventured to a place he doesn't know.
"He knew the property, we used to visit my mother-in-law on a regular basis."
The owners of Skoota are desperate to know where he is.
Skoota was last seen wearing a red collar and two name tags: a registration tag from the Hurunui district council and a tag with his name and phone number.
He is described as "mainly white with a brown spot on his tail", and he is microchipped.
Despite weeks of searching, driving hundreds of kilometres and putting thousands of flyers in letterboxes and signs on roadsides, the couple have yet to receive news of any sightings.
The reward has increased from an initial $1000, to $2000 then $3000.
Currently, a $5000 reward is offered for his safe return with no questions asked.
"We've heard nothing so far, which is telling us he's either dead, or he might be kept and the person with him doesn't want to give him back and isn't interested in the money," Serge said.
"We believe he would not have disappeared without human intervention.
"We walked for three weeks around the property, the rivers, the roads, he hasn't been found on the side of any road around here. If he'd been around we would have found him.
"The simple answer is we don't know.
"We are on our own except we have amazing support from the wider community."
The couple say they will never stop searching for their four-legged friend.
Skoota was last seen wearing a red collar and two name tags: a council registration tag and a tag with his name and phone number.
Dogs that go missing are often stolen, Serge said.
