By Cherrie Anne E. Villahermosa
Variety News Staff

A BUSINESSWOMAN is offering a reward of $50 to anybody who can return her mixed breed dog Cookie who has been missing for over a week now.
Ayako Matsumoto, a volunteer of the Beautify CNMI! and owner of the Pacific Eagle Building in Gualo Rai, said Cookie, a five-year-old dog, was last seen on April 6 at 12:30 midnight.
Cookie was wearing a red collar and anyone who finds her can call Matsumoto at 234-7914 or e-mail aya@peagle.net. You can also call Pet Assistance and Welfare Services board member Katie Busenkell at 256-0243. Her e-mail address is busenkell@gmail.com.
Matsumoto said it wasn’t the first time that she lost a dog. She said in 2002, she lost a male dog.
The male dog and Cookie would always go out from her house, located at the back of the Pacific Eagle Building, to play outside.
But Matsumoto said the dogs would also return home after a couple of hours.
She said the first time that Cookie and another dog disappeared was before Christmas in 2002.
Cookie and a male dog ran away from home for a few hours and played outside at about midnight.
The male dog did not came back but Cookie did.
Matsumoto said on April 6, Cookie and her offspring Nash were playing outside at around 12:30 midnight.
She found Nash at a neighbor’s apartment at 4 a.m. but not Cookie.
Matsumoto said she has been searching the areas of Gualo Rai, Beach Road, Garapan and Kilili Beach and even Mt. Tapuchao to look for her dog.
Matsumoto said she has received no information yet about Cookie.
She is hoping that her dog is still alive and is being taken cared of by someone.
But she heard that there are also some restaurants on island that buy dogs for $60 or $80 each.
She’s hoping that Cookie has not been a “victim of this cruelty.”
Katie Busenkell is urging the community to help them find the dog.
Busenkell said since last year, there have been reports about missing dogs on island.
This negative publicity, she added, gives the island a bad reputation and hurts the CNMI’s tourism industry.