A chihuahua called Timmy who sparked a three-day search after going missing has been found alive, stuck in a neighbour's hot tub. The eight-year old animal is the emotional support dog of PTSD sufferer Michelle Sloots, from Swansea, who broke down in tears on camera after finally being reunited with her pet.
The wandering pup, who disappeared through a side gate at the family's home in Penydre Road, Clydach, on Easter Sunday afternoon, was discovered late on Tuesday by someone living nearby. The neighbour was said to have been 'putting the bins out' at the time and heard a 'splashing noise' coming from his back garden.
Upon further investigation he discovered Timmy, who was unable to get out, standing in an inch or so of rain water which had collected during the recent storms. "I just don't know how he could have got in there, it's so bizarre," said mum-of-four Michelle. You can get more Swansea news and other story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.
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"We've even got a hot tub ourselves and he's never once tried to climb inside that." The 36-year-old added that her family had been heartbroken after Timmy vanished, with two of her kids - aged seven and three - even lying in the dog's bed in order to feel closer to him.
"Timmy was the last gift I got from my mother before she passed away in 2019. I've had him seven years and he's not used to being away from me. The whoIe time he was gone I didn't eat or sleep properly. He is our whole world and not knowing where he was, or if he was safe, was just awful."
She said lots of friends and neighbours had joined in with searching for the chihuahua. "They put up posters in shops, went out searching in the pouring rain - I really can't thank them enough, especially Missing Dogs Team Wales who posted lots of appeals on Facebook.
"Then, on Tuesday night at about 9.30pm, I got a call saying he'd been found. Well, I just screamed the place down."
Filming herself shortly afterwards, with Timmy back in her arms, Michelle dissolved into tears. "I was just overwhelmed to finally get him back. And now my boy is home again - fed, watered, bathed and cwtching up on me," she said.
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