A concerned member of the public has told Gallagher Harbisher Thomson they believe they saw his missing blue heeler pup, Dinghy, in Redlynch, Cairns, late last week, but from a distance only.

Dinghy, has been missing for 22 days, feared stolen from his fishing boat in the middle of the night while his master was in hospital.

The unconfirmed sighting was of a pup of the same age sitting up in the back seat of a blue Toyota Prado. While the person offering the information was strong in their belief it was Dinghy, Gallagher says they did not have an opportunity to check closely to see if the pup had the distinguishing kinked tail that Dinghy has.

Gallagher has posted a “decent” reward for Dinghy’s safe return home, but is increasingly concerned the 12 week old, unregistered pup, has been stolen and is being hidden.

Newsport has jumped in to help in the search for Dinghy, managing social media and messages for Gallagher as he struggles with the “crippling” impact of losing his much loved dog.

Already, Dinghy’s story has reached more than 8000 people through social media and the Newsport Daily site, spreading the net in the search for the pup.

“He means a hell of a lot to me,’’ Gallagher, 30, said.

“I’ve been doing it pretty tough since he has been missing.’’

Dinghy, a pure bred blue heeler has a distinctive kinked tail and Gallagher suggests he would stand out from other blue heeler pups because of it.

Gallagher’s father, John, was staying onboard his own boat adjacent to Gallagher’s at the Port Douglas Yacht Club and caring for Dinghy when he disappeared, Sunday, November 10.

He had been tied up at his shelter on the deck of the boat, with enough length of rope to also access the wharf.

He was last heard yelping at 3.40am but was gone when John rose in the morning around 5am.

“He is a very very special dog to me, please help, reward if found,’’ Gallagher said in a post the following day as he started his search for Dinghy.

Gallagher says he had only recently overcome the grief of his longtime canine companion, Captain, which spent six years with him at sea and was a much loved family pet. He had formed a strong bond with Dinghy in a short time.

“It has absolutely crippled me. My other dog was like a shadow and this boy was fast becoming the same.

“I was about to get him registered but was in hospital and unable to. I was just getting that stuff sorted out.’’

*Newsport encourages people to share this story of Dinghy widely and will pass any potentially useful information on to Gallagher and advise relevant authorities where needed.

100 free DONUT WAIT donuts will be given away in Mossman to promote Douglas Shire Council’s cyclone preparedness message, “Don’t Wait Until It’s Too Late”.

The December 6 promotion is a partnership between Council and iconic Mossman business Duke’s. The donuts will be available at the Duke’s shop at Mossman (1/5 Front Street) from 7am and Council’s Mossman Administration Building (Customer Service) from 8:30am.

Douglas Shire Mayor Lisa Scomazzon said the DONUT WAIT donuts giveaway was a fun way to promote an important community message.

“We want everyone to be ready for the upcoming wet season and we are hoping the giveaway will start the conversation about cyclone preparedness,” Mayor Scomazzon said.

“To receive a free DONUT WAIT donut, we are asking people to answer the following question – How many litres of water per person should you pack as part of your emergency kit?

“If you don’t know the answer, upload the Douglas Disaster Dashboard to find out. The dashboard has all the details and news you need to know before and during a cyclone event.”

Duke’s owners Mike and Sally Miller said their business was inundated with water during the flooding that followed Jasper.

“We are lucky to live in such a beautiful place but I think last year was real wake-up call for a lot of people,” Mike said.

“I got to see firsthand the devastation but overriding that, a positive memory coming out of it, was the community coming together and really supporting each other in the clean-up.”

Sally said Duke’s was happy to share the preparedness message.

“I think because we have been through it with the Mossman community we can say ‘Look at what can happen,” she said.

“I have lived here for 30 years and never seen anything like it. It is really important people can talk within the community about what happened.”