Hunter pines for his top dog

A $300 reward is being offered to anyone who can help find Pine the pig dog.

Pine’s owner, 23-year- old Glen Eden resident Steve Pond, says the dog is extra special to him.

"He’s the first dog I trained," Steve says.

"My biggest fear is someone has taken him."

Steve has been working as a pig hunter in the Waitakere Ranges for the Auckland Regional Council for the past 18 months and his canine companion has always been right by his side – until now.

He says Pine went missing on a hunting trip at the Upper Nihotupu Dam on December 3.

Steve says all his dogs went up a track chasing a boar and later came back without Pine.

"That’s when we started getting a bit worried and started looking," he says.

Steve and a mate have searched the bush and doorknocked homes in the area to no avail.

But it appears Pine is alive and has covered a fair bit of ground.

"We met a builder on Anawhata Rd and he said he’d seen Pine wandering along Piha Rd that night. The only other sighting we’ve got so far was a lady who saw him at Karekare," Steve says.

"We really need him back – he’s one of our top dogs.

"He’s a bit of a mongrel. He’s about two and a half years old and he’s a labrador cross. He’s got a bit of a whippet, red heeler and American bulldog in him."

Call Sue on 027-283- 7822, or Melissa at 021- 646-489 if you have information.

- © Fairfax NZ News