A Scottish family's prized puppy has been found three days after disappearing while on holiday in Northern Ireland, to the joy of thousands who have been following her search.
Little spaniel Coco, 11 months, bolted from Cave Hill near Belfast after being spooked by a larger approaching dog on December 20. Belfast Live reports that extensive searches were carried out this week in a bid to find her before her owners, the Johnston's from Aberdeen, were due to return home on a ferry on December 23.
However, the family was forced to board their ferry on Friday save for mum Mel, 42, who stayed back to carry out one last search in order to get their missing family member back. Not long after they boarded the boat, she got a call from someone who said they had seen a dog matching Coco's description and tied her up in his garden.
The pup has been reunited with its family after Mel's husband and kids Nadie, 11, Allie, eight, and seven-year-old Robyn disembarked from the ferry and leapt back into the car. Mel said she couldn't thank locals enough for all of their help.
She recalled: "We couldn't leave Coco here, and the girls agreed that they would face me staying in Belfast to keep searching while they went home with their dad. It was a very tearful farewell but we had do it - one of the family was missing and we needed to get her back.
"Aidan and the girls went on ahead and not long after they got on the ferry I got a phone call from a lovely gentleman asking me if I was missing a wee dog. He said he was sadly on his way to a funeral but a small brown dog had turned up in his garden which he had secured as best as he could.
"He said the wee dog had a green harness on and I felt it had to be her."
Mel rushed over to the man's house where she found Coco sitting in the garden waiting. After scrambling over the man's fence – with his permission – in her socks because her boots wouldn't fit in the wall, she and the pup were reunited.
She added: "[Coco] held back for a moment or two and then she realised what was going on and she bounded over to us. Let's just say there were a lot of tears. I checked her over and she looked brand new, no injuries and really very little weight loss.
"It's a long trip but all of us were very happy. Losing Coco was hellish to be honest.
"None of us really slept at all. We were stressed out thinking of her out on her own. We were so so worried and desperate just to find her.
"But we were totally blown away by the response of people in Northern Ireland to our situation, with so many people coming out to search for Coco, Lost Paws NI who used their thermal drone to look for Coco, Play for Strays for funding the drone, for DogsLive and Belfast Live for getting our story out to almost 200,000 people and the fantastic K9 Walker.
"They never gave up and they were so delighted to hear that Coco had made her own way to a garden in Kilcoole Gardens near the Antrim Road. The efforts people made to help Coco and us as a family were incredible and all we can do is say thank you and give a donation to Lost Paws NI and it just doesn't seem enough."
The family are now en route home to Aberdeen and will be together for Christmas, as originally planned.
Mel summed up: "We will be home on December 23 and wake up as a family together Christmas Eve and to have Coco home with us is all we need for Christmas. There have been so many tears, tears of sadness and fear for Coco and tears of happiness when we got her back. The feeling was incredible."
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