Paul O’Grady, Towie’s Pirate Pete and Dragon’s Den Deborah Meaden are helping the search for missing British Bull Terrier Bow who disappeared on December 30 while walking with her owners in Belhus Country Park.

Jimmy Effeny, 39 from South Ockendon and his family are devastated that their distinctive pet is still not home and said: “The response has been amazing from the celebrities tweeting about Bow and the support from the local community and Pippa’s Army has been overwhelming but the whole family is distraught and we cannot rest until she is found.”

There is now a £2,000 reward being offered for Bow’s safe return and the family firmly believe that she is still out there.

Bow has a distinctive black mark on her nose that looks like a bat in flight and was last seen in Pea Lane on the day she went missing.

Within a week a Facebook page set up for Bow had clocked up 2,500 members and a huge area surrounding the park has now been postered.

Jimmy added: “We have not been able to concentrate on anything else other than bringing her home.

"We have been searching day and night in all weathers since December 30 and we will not give up until she is back with us.”

The chances are that Bow is now in survival mode.

This is a state where the animal sees humans as potential predators and if anyone spots Bow the advise is NOT to approach her but to phone one of the numbers on the poster (07490 786 649 or 07808 167528) so the experts have ensure she is safely caught.

Jimmy said: “We know that sometimes people pick lost dogs up not realizing that they are being searched for, and we have made it clear that anyone who has Bow can return her no questions asked, but our feeling with the amount of social media coverage now is that Bow is too hot to handle and it is much more likely that she is still keeping a low survival profile somewhere near or around the park but we desperate for sightings and need to spread the word.”

Bow is microchipped and spayed and described as “a lovely dog that gets on with everyone, she is laid back but a real people’s dog.”

Belhus Country Park café has kindly allowed the search teams to leave posters there so that members of the public can pick them up and put them up in their own locality and a Go Fund me page is being run by Pippa’s Army to help extend the search.

Anyone with any information or sightings should call the numbers on the poster immediately. Volunteers for postering and searches should go to the Facebook page – “Reward – Missing bow in Belhus park”  for more information.