Experts ‘amazed’ at survival of Valerie the miniature dachshund – on the run on South Australian island for more than a year

Valerie the miniature dachshund, who went missing on Kangaroo Island in November 2023, is believed to be alive and well but has been ‘impossible to catch’. Photograph: Courtesy of Georgia Gardner

A miniature dachshund that went missing 16 months ago on Kangaroo Island in South Australia has been spotted alive and well – but continues to evade a team of volunteer searchers and wildlife experts who say they are “amazed” the dog survived for so long in the wild.

Valerie weighed less than 4kg, had a pink collar and “would never leave [the] side” of her owner, Georgia Gardner, before she went missing in November 2023.