Sheffield family offering £2000 reward as they seek closure on their beloved dog Axel’s death

The monetary reward was initially offered to those who could find the dog by Swallownest-based property firm 2Roost Estate Agents last week.

Eight-year-old Axel was last seen alive in Rother Valley Country Park at 5.30am on Friday (January 10) and search was intensified in the surrounding areas with the help from local residents.

But the family was left devastated after the body of their beloved pet was found on Saturday (January 18).

In a Facebook post on "Run Free Axel", the administrator said the dog's owner, Dawn is devastated with what happened to her "wonderful, kind and gentle" boy, Axel, and the family are still unsure of the exact circumstances of how he died.

"This uncertainty is causing even more stress and upset to Axel's family. 2Roost have very kindly said that they would now like to offer the £2000 reward money for any information that gives the family answers.

"If anyone has any information about Axel's death, please do not post that information here or anywhere online, but instead send the information in a private message to one of this group's admins.

"We do not need to falsely accuse people or acts of revenge, we just need facts...at this time we are not certain what happened to Axel, but the way he was found has led people to believe he could have died in suspicious circumstances.

"Axel's family just want to know what happened so they can get some kind of closure."

The family have also launched a fundraising appeal to set up a suitable memorial for Axel including a bench where his owner, Dawn can visit, but they also welcome other suggestions.

The Justgiving page also said that the funds raised will help cover the costs of a post-mortem and an investigation into the cause of his tragic death.

Dawn's sister Tracy Birch said the police have been informed and are awaiting report from RSPCA on the post-mortem.