IPOH, Nov 20 — It has been more than two years since Jackie the male Shih Tzu went missing but his owner, Perak police officer Deputy Superintendent Derek Lai is not giving up.
Lai said he still clings on to the hope that Jackie will return to him.
“On and off I will post details about Jackie on social media in the hopes that whoever that rescued him can return him to me,” he said.
Speaking to Malay Mail, Lai, who is attached with the state police contingent’s Criminal Investigations Department, said he last saw Jackie in the wee hours of August 31, 2018 at his former home in Taman Kuantan, Pahang.
“The night before, Jackie was restless due to firecrackers being set off to celebrate Merdeka. I decided to accompany him at the porch area until 4.30am before turning in.”
“When I woke up at 8am, my family told me Jackie had gone missing,” he said.
Lai immediately posted messages about the missing Jackie through social media.
“At that time, I offered RM1,000 reward for Jackie’s return,” he said, adding that the amount was later increased to RM3,000 in the hopes to attract those who rescued Jackie to return him.
In the meantime, Lai also printed 3,000 copies of leaflets seeking Jackie’s return.
“Of that number, 1,000 copies of the leaflets were given to newsvendors in Kuantan where I asked them to insert into their newspapers while 500 were given to my friends to help me distribute,” he said.
The remainder of the leaflets were hand distributed by himself and a friend James Lim in Kuantan.
“We put in the leaflets in each home covering a 10-kilometre radius from my former house,” he said.
To keep the search operations alive, Lai said he still posted on social media occasionally that he was still looking for Jackie.
“Deep down, I believe Jackie is still alive and well,” he said, adding that Jackie has a twin sister named Baby.
Asked why he is persistent in getting Jackie back, Lai said:
“He is part of my family. We were heartbroken when he went missing.”
When he went missing, Lai said, Jackie was nine-years-old.
“He has a brown spot on his body,” he added.
If you have seen Jackie, Lai can be contacted at 017-5751285 or through his Facebook https://www.facebook.com/dereklai.eileenmou
