THE parents of little Jessica Jenkins are appealing for her beloved pet Lucky’s safe return.

Three-year-old Jessica was “devastated” when she returned home on Friday afternoon to find Lucky, a Staffordshire bull terrier, was no longer in the back garden.

Dad Detlef Jenkins said six-month-old Lucky must have gone missing between 3.05pm and 3.25pm, when he went to collect his son Gregory, five, from school.

The dog is described as being ginger in colour, with a patch of white from the neck down between the front legs and a distinctive white patch on the back of her neck.

Detlef and his wife Jen, of Kingshill, have been putting up posters in the local area and asking neighbours if they have seen Lucky. He has reported it to police but it is not being investigated as a crime.

“Jessica is devastated,” Detlef said. “We put her out in the back garden on Friday and when I came back from picking up my son she was gone.

“There is no way she has got out – we have a five foot brick wall around the garden. There is an alleyway behind the wall between the two sets of houses though.

“Unfortunately nobody seems to talk to each other anymore and nobody has seen anything.

“We have printed off loads of flyers and posted them through doors.”

Lucky was a replacement after Jessica’s first dog died after vets said it was too young to vaccinate. Detlef said she had been asking for a pet for about a year when he finally gave in.

He said: “She wanted one for ages – almost a year. We took her to the vets to get her injections but they said she was too young and unfortunately she died.

“Then I drove to Gloucester to get Lucky.

“We used to go walking around Faringdon Road Park and the forest but Jessica does not know what to do with herself now.

“She hasn’t cried but she keeps saying she’ll come back and when she hears the dogs over the back she rushes to look out the window. Lucky is not bad tempered – she’s just lovable and likes people.

“She is so friendly she will run up to anyone. We just want her back and if someone has got her we hope they realise they might have made a mistake.”

Anyone with any information should contact either Detlef on 07968 324864 or Jen on 07799 177644.