Operation bring Piper home is in full effect in St. Joseph.
Piper, a yellow labrador retriever, went missing from the home of St. Joseph resident Amy McElroy on Wednesday afternoon.
McElroy was watching her while Piper’s owner, Cindy Ferry, was in Louisiana helping assess storm damage for State Farm.
“We’ve had her since she was eight weeks old,” Ferry said.
Ferry has had Piper for three years and she was rescued from a puppy mill in Arthur with her two brothers and her sister. St. Joseph resident Tammy Atwood has Piper’s brothers.
The family got Piper after their family dog Copper passed away.
Ferry’s daughter, Alyssa, said Piper is a huge emotional support for the family.
“She is the silliest, sassiest, hungriest dog I have ever met,” Alyssa said.
Cindy said Piper thinks she is a lap dog and loves food.
“”She also has a bad habit out of drinking out of the toilet,” Cindy said. “When we first got her my daughter and her two huskies lived with us and they taught her how to do that.”
Piper wakes up at 5 a.m. daily to eat her breakfast and is a puppy at heart who loves to play, Alyssa said.
Alyssa said that Piper loves to be close to her humans and one night climbed into the bathtub as Alyssa was taking a bath.
“She’s just such a good girl and our hearts are broken that she is all alone right now,” Alyssa said. “I know it’s hard for my mom not being there and searching for her herself.”
Alyssa, who lives in Texas, plans to fly in to help with the search if Piper isn’t found tonight.
“It has been so amazing to see the community come together to help us find her,” Alyssa said.
McElroy, her children and dozens of St. Joseph residents spent Thursday searching for the dog in cornfields, backyards and wooded areas.
Residents are now using drones to search miles of cornfields in a more effective manner. A Facebook post asking people to be on the lookout for Piper has been shared 324 times.
McElroy said Piper was in their backyard on a lead and somehow got her collar off.
“I feel terrible,” she said as she searched the cornfields near Prince of Peace Church.
She said the family had been searching all night. Teachers at Prince of Peace saw Piper near the cornfields on Wednesday and residents reported seeing paw prints near a retention pond near the church.
McElroy’s son Braden has put $100 towards a reward for Piper’s return which now totals $200.
“I love Cindy and I know how much Piper means to her,” he said. “I don’t care about a $100 when all I want is Piper to be home.”
Anyone with information should call or text 217-898-0609.
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