Bella, a 14-year-old English cocker spaniel missing for a week, was found on Wednesday morning, washed ashore lifeless in a small cove in Pembroke

“We’re sad to share tonight that Bella has been found. Today, she washed up in a small cove close to home unfortunately passed away,” Khylah Sanchez wrote in a social-media post.

The Sanchez family had appealed to the public for assistance in finding their pet, which was deaf, losing its sight and needed daily medication for a hormone imbalance.

“Over the past seven days, we’ve shared our journey to find our sweet girl Bella,” Ms Sanchez wrote.

“While this isn’t our ideal reunion with our pup, it has provided the closure we’ve desperately needed.

“It has been a long week!

“Thank you! The amount of people that we’ve met in the last week willing to help us find Bella has been extremely overwhelming.

“We can’t express enough gratitude to everyone who spent time looking for our girl. You all gave us hope, lifted us up and kept us going with your kind words and gestures when we considered giving up.”

Ms Sanchez told The Royal Gazette in an interview last week that her sister came home at about 6pm on Wednesday to feed Bella but could not find her anywhere.

Ms Sanchez said that the yard had been closed off and speculated that the gate may have opened, allowing the pet to escape and locking her out when the windy weather shut the gate behind her.

Bella’s disappearance was shared over Facebook, leading many to help search for her.