A family who feared their pet hamster had disappeared forever were staggered when their neighbour’s dog turned up with it in his mouth.
Lisa Marsh, 42, and sons Joe, 11, and Jake, nine, scoured their home for hours looking for their fluffy friend Jeff after he escaped from his cage.
When the search of their home and garden in Southampton ended without success, they assumed he had died but continued to pray for a miracle.
So they were amazed when neighbour Tammy Baxendale knocked at their door, saying she had found Jeff in the mouth of her labrador Rooney.
The eight-year-old pooch had sniffed him out in Tammy’s garden, gently picked him up in his mouth and dropped him at her feet.
After his amazing rescue he trotted up the garden and proudly showed the pet off to his owner. Incredibly, Jeff was completely unharmed.
Tammy wiped down the saliva-covered hamster – aged just eight months – and returned it to Lisa.
Lisa said: ‘A couple of hours after Jeff had gone missing, I found Jake in the garden by himself praying for his safe return.
‘A little later we got a knock at the door and Tammy from next door had Jeff in her hands.
That’s when good neighbours become good friends: Joe, Jake and Jeff pose with Rooney and his owner Ollie
‘She said she had seen her dog Rooney sniffing something in their garden.
‘He then came back with something in his mouth and dropped it on the floor at their feet – it was Jeff.
‘He was covered in the dog’s saliva and a bit wild-eyed and freaked out but he is absolutely fine.’
