Heartbroken Jedburgh family refuse to give up hope of getting missing dogs back

Jedburgh's Ed and Georgie Bell are still hoping to get their missing dogs Ruby and Beetle back.

The lives of the Bell family changed forever on December 28 last year after their treasured Border terriers Ruby and Beetle were snatched.

The frantic search that followed failed to find the dogs, but the family’s campaign gained national attention, with a Facebook page attracting 11,000 members and a £10,000 reward raised.

Sadly, the trail seemed to be going cold and Edward and Georgie Bell and their children Tom, Felicity and Francesca, of the Lothian Estate at Jedburgh, were starting to lose hope.

That changed recently, though, when they learned that Beetle’s microchip number had been inputted in a checker tool on a website.

That apparent breakthrough offered fresh hope, but the family’s joy soon turned to despair when told that data protection rules meant they could not access the information.

In the meanwhile, the couple used £5,000 of the money raised to hire a pet detective for what was, ultimately, an unsuccessful bid to find the dogs.

An anonymous benefactor then came forward with a £5,000 donation to reinstate the original reward, however.

Georgie, 46, says she is determined not to give up on the search and has been buoyed after the police agreed to launch a data protection probe.

She said: “We can’t give up. How can we? They are members of our family.

“It’s just so frustrating that we know Beetle is alive but we just can’t access the information which would bring her back home.

“We just want our two beautiful dogs returned safely so that our family can be complete again in time for Christmas.”

To help or to share a potential sighting, visit www.findrubyandbeetle.com or call 07885 712165.