o Local Dogue De Bordeaux breeder Amanda Gordon with one of Hugo’s sisters.
Facebook has received its fair share of criticism since coming into existence but this social media outlet has led to a happy ending for not only a Queensland couple but local dog breeder Amanda Gordon.
In the early hours of Sunday morning the Gold Coast’s Carly O’Loughlan opened her front door to find her house ransacked and thousands of dollars worth of items stolen. The lost property or the reality the house was broken into was not what caused the most heartache for herself and her fiance - their nine-week-old puppy, Hugo, was also gone.
Carly and her friends then went to Facebook and created a page ‘Help Find Hugo’. Instantly the story of the missing pup Hugo went viral, not only to thousands of people on Facebook but to local media outlets and even the national news and the Today Show.
The fact Hugo made the national news and became somewhat famous was a big surprise to Narromine’s Amanda Gordon, as Hugo - a Dogue De Bordeaux, more commonly known as a French Mastiff or a ‘Turner and Hooch dog’ - was actually one of the puppies she bred here recently.
“There were eight in the litter and all sold went around the state and even interstate to loving owners,” Mrs Gordon said.
“It was a shock when (Carly) rang me on Sunday morning absolutely devastated that someone had taken Hugo. She didn’t have the microchip number yet as we were swapping the ownership over and the paperwork was still in the mail somewhere.
“Her friends put the Help Find Hugo Facebook page up and it snowballed from there, and thankfully led to a wonderful ending.”
After an abundance of social and mainstream media attention, Hugo was safely returned to his owners on Tuesday evening.
Miss O’Loughlan posted on the Facebook page:
“Hugo is home safe and sound and he is just as perfect as he was three days ago. I cannot thank everyone enough for their support and kind wishes through this entire ordeal. The Facebook support has been overwhelming and it only really confirms for us the fact that there are bad people out there but even more so are there good people. Thank you everyone we are so happy to have Hugo sleeping next to us once more.”
Mrs Gordon is also relieved that Hugo, the pup from Narromine, was returned safe and well.
“They are such a rare and lovely breed,” she said.
“They have beautiful, sweet natures and are very friendly and protective of their owners and family. It is just wonderful to see Hugo back with his owners; it really is the best outcome,” she concluded.