"It's our Christmas miracle!" - missing Chihuahua Aiza has been found!

Aiza the Chihuahua found

A Chihuahua who went missing from Guildford and survived the cold for ten days has been reunited with her owners. Emily Davis reports

Those of you following the heart-wrenching story of missing Chihuahua Aiza from Guildford will be thrilled to know that she has been found!

Aiza disappeared while on a walk on Puttenham Common in Guildford on December 5, after being spooked by two larger dogs who came towards her.

She darted off into the undergrowth and was missing for a full ten days. Her panicked owners Frances and Mark Young, of Ash, started a huge campaign to find her and tirelessly searched to bring her home along with hundreds of concerned locals.

Nine days after she disappeared, Frances and Mark came close to giving up hope.

“We just didn’t know how she would be able to fend for herself that long. There had been no sightings, and we feared the worst. We thought she had probably died of cold, or that a fox had got her.”

But hope was renewed on Saturday, when a scared black dog that matched Aiza’s description was seen running down Puttenham Road.

Mark and Frances were planning to search the area again on Sunday, when a call came in to say that Aiza had been spotted on the Hampton Estate in Farnham.

They rushed to the Estate, along with a local who kindly lent his Search and Rescue dog to help the chase.

Unfortunately there was no sign of Aiza, but Frances did give a poster to a woman who lived on the Estate, who later called to say she had seen Aiza in her garden.

Mark and Frances returned, but by the time they got there, Aiza had bolted.

“It was just getting ridiculous” Franced told me. “She kept being sighted and then disappearing again. We were so close and yet so far. It was torture.

"We got back in the car to drive in the direction she’d been seen running. I was looking out the window when I screamed ‘STOP THE CAR!’ – I’d seen her in the field by the road. We dashed out and ran after her. We managed to coax her back by calling her name and waving treats. She was terrified, but we got her eventually.”

Skinny: Aiza lost a third of her body weight while out in the cold, but is now recovering at home.

Aiza has now returned home and been reunited with her brother, English Bull Terrier Max, who is ecstatic to see her.

“They were both wagging their tails like mad!” Frances laughs. “Aiza has lost 1kg, which is a lot for a dog who only weighed 3kg in the first place. But we’re feeding her little and often and giving her lots of love. She’s getting her strength back. The vet says she’s doing well. It’s our Christmas miracle!

“Thank you so much for your support and your coverage, it all helped so much. We also can't express our gratitude to all the amazing people who helped. The local community came together in such a wonderful way, and we've been truly overwhelmed by the kindness of strangers. We are so happy. Christmas is back on!”