Model heartbroken as hunt for beloved pet duck brings barrage of prank calls
A model whose beloved pet duck was stolen says she has received “countless” threats and prank calls since hanging up posters offering a reward for his return.
Julia Olympio’s duck, named Patolino, went missing from her home in the state of São Paulo, Brazil on April 13.
So naturally the influencer sent out an appeal to her 500,000 Instagram followers asking for help in finding the missing pet.
READ MORE: Woman set up Tinder and Grindr profiles to help in search for her lost cat
But she also put up a number of posters around her local area, Mogi das Cruzes, offering a reward of 30,000 Brazilian Reals (just under £5,000), and that’s where the trouble started.
Julia said that she had received countless hate calls and messages and that some people had also made prank calls that could disrupt the police investigation.
She said that numerous people sent her pictures of ducks claiming that they were her beloved Patolino, adding: "There are thousands of calls and messages every day and it only started after I put up the banners."
The distraught influencer said: "In the two hours that I had my cell phone turned off, I received 10,000 calls and more than 6,000 messages. Unfortunately, this ends up hindering the investigations more than helping."
Kids 'traumatised' as woman lets her dog tear a duck to pieces in park pond
Julia says that lots of people had sent her abusive messages, saying: "So many unnecessary comments… How difficult is it for people to understand that I look after Patolino like a son?
"Just by looking at our videos together, you'll see that he always reciprocated all the affection I had for him."
A police investigation has been launched into the break-in at the influencer's home was allegedly broken into and her beloved pet duck Patolino was stolen.
The authorities are reportedly analysing CCTV footage in a bid to track down the culprits.
Julia wrote online: "With a lot of faith in God, we will find whoever has my Patolino."
Teenagers brutally beat duck with baseball bat in 'horrific' Snapchat footage
She told reporters how she upset she had been to lose her duck: "I treated him like he was my own child. He's been to the beach and the countryside with me.
"It's been terrible being without him, it's such a big void. It feels like I'm going through a nightmare and at any moment I'll wake up and he'll be there waiting for me."
Julia had left her home on April 13 and returned home to find Patolino gone. She said: "I moved to another house five days ago. I chose this house to give him more comfort, there was a pond and I was going to get a female to stay with him."
She also reached out to a company that specialises in locating lost pets. However, so far there has been no sign of her feathered friend.
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