Tauranga family’s emotional support dogs feared to be stolen

A Tauranga mum is devastated after the family’s emotional support dogs went missing and is worried they were stolen.

Amanda Hacche suffers from complex PTSD and anxiety panic disorder after her son, Devon Edwards Hacche, swallowed a battery as an infant in 2015 and was left with persisting health complications.

She said the dogs, 5-year-old Cash and 5-month-old Chilli, helped keep her grounded when she experienced any anxiety or post-traumatic stress.

The pure bred blue english Staffordshire bull terriers went missing on Tuesday from Glue Pot Rd in Oropi near Tauranga.

Hacche was concerned they might have been stolen for breeding, but she was not giving up the search.

• Do you know more? email iwitness@rnz.co.nz

‘They’re not just pets’

Hacche said she relied heavily on the dogs emotionally and said they were more than just pets to her and the family.

“The dogs pretty much, for me, help me keep calm and they give me a grounding because otherwise I get very, very anxious and I really struggle with triggering from the post-traumatic.”

She said the dogs especially the youngest, Chilli, were with her constantly.

“Chilli sleeps in my bed. When I say these dogs are with me 24/7, I mean 24/7. So, I never feel alone and I’ve always got something to focus on.”

‘Extremely unusual’

Hacche first discovered the dogs missing on Tuesday when she had put the dogs out on their semi-rural farm property.

When she went to call them back, they were nowhere to be found, something she said was “extremely unusual”.

She waited for a bit and tried calling again, several times with no luck.

After a few hours of trying, she began calling friends and family to see if they had sighted the dogs or to check their security cameras.

“Everyone came to my property, and we started looking and we searched until about 9.30 at night.”

On Thursday she reported the missing dogs to the police and had now put out a $20,000 reward with no questions asked.

She said she reported the alleged theft to police, who declined to provide details when contacted by RNZ.

‘Potentially stolen’

She told Checkpoint the dogs were very special and could potentially have been stolen.

“If someone has been watching them at all someone would know that they’re a girl and a boy, potentially they’ve stolen them to try and breed them.”

She said the dogs were a special, sought after breed.

“Being the colour that they are too both blue dogs again very sought after.

“People just won’t realise what they mean to us.”

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