A DEVASTATED family is backing a campaign for a change in the law after a desperate search for their beloved pet ended in tragedy.

Thousands of people joined the three-month search for golden cocker spaniel, Fern, before her owners discovered she had been found dead on the A1 by a Highways Agency officer four days after she went missing.

The eight-year-old pet had been staying at Low Chantry Farm Boarding Kennels, in Middleton Tyas, North Yorkshire, when she went missing on August 24.

She was killed on the A1 between Barton and Scotch Corner on August 28, but her body was not removed until November 16.

During this time, her owners Kevin Dawson and Sarah Clement-Dawson, of Killerby, near Darlington, held countless searches to find their pet, and a Facebook page called Help Find Fern also attracted more than 1,500 likes.

Mrs Clement-Dawson said: “She was part of the family – as far as I was concerned she was my eldest daughter. She was just a brilliant dog.

“I can’t understand how nobody noticed she was there. If she was laid in the motorway somebody must have seen her.

“The stress of looking for her kept us going but now we are absolutely shattered. We have closure, but not in the way we were hoping.”

Following Fern’s disappearance, her family repeatedly contacted the Highways Agency to ask if any dogs had been hit on the A1 near Barton, and were always told no.

Mrs Clement-Dawson said it was only as a result of a chance encounter with a Highways Agency officer that Fern was ever collected.

“If I had not bumped into the officer and kept pestering them we still would not know, she would still be there and we would never have stopped looking for her,” she said.

A Highways Agency spokesperson said: “Our traffic officers found the dog, however our contractors Aone+, who would routinely remove animals to one of our depots, were unfortunately not informed immediately.

“We understand the uncertainty surrounding the fate of the family pet will have been upsetting and we are very sorry for the distress that this delay has caused. We will look into the reasons for the delay to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

In memory of Fern, Mrs Clement-Dawson and her family are backing Harvey’s Law – a petition calling for more stringent regulations to be put in place to reunite deceased pets with their owners.

“Sadly it is only going to get worse. There is no need for the unnecessary suffering families face,” said Mrs Clement-Dawson.

To sign the petition, visit epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/62490