After being engaged for ten years, Jacqui Millson had been looking forward to finally walking down the aisle this summer.
But the 53-year-old has called off next week’s wedding – because her beloved pet dogs have been stolen.
The civil servant says that she has spent every spare minute hunting for husky Zala and German shepherd Zeus, leaving her with no time to plan for her big day.
Jacqui Millson, 53, (pictured with her grandchildren Angelica, five, and Tyler, four) has called off her wedding because her dogs were stolen
With fiance Steve Andrews, 51, she has spent £5,500 on leaflets, T-shirts and posters, while Miss Millson has also campaigned on social media.
She said: ‘My partner and I should have been getting married, but once the dogs were taken I didn’t have the time to start planning it.
‘When I’m not at work I am constantly on Facebook replying to people’s messages, trawling sites to see if anyone has tried to sell them and also chasing up reported sightings.
People don’t understand and say, “They’re just dogs” – but it feels as though a big part of our family is missing.’
The civil servant says that she has spent every spare minute hunting for husky Zala and German shepherd Zeus, leaving her with no time to plan for her big day
The couple have offered an £8,000 reward for the safe return of their dogs.
They had been due to marry on Tuesday before deciding to call off their big day. Miss Millson said: ‘We want to be able to enjoy it. And by that I don’t just mean the wedding, but the planning and the build-up too.’
In the hunt for Zala and Zeus, they have even sponsored a rugby league player – so the campaign to find the pets is mentioned every time he scores. They went missing from the back garden of Miss Millson’s home in Barnsley on December 22 when she went to a doctor’s appointment. At the time the couple were in the early stages of planning the wedding, but the search for Zeus, three, and Zala, six, took over.
Miss Millson – grandmother to Tyler, four, and five-year-old Angelica – said: ‘I really miss coming downstairs of a morning and hearing them speaking to me.
‘It’s really affected our children, but I feel for my grandchildren the most. I have sunscreen blinds with the two dogs on and they get upset when they get in the car and keep saying, “When are they coming back?”’