Sausage dog lost in bushfire has emotional reunion with owner
- Published
He's less than a foot tall but the little sausage dog has survived getting lost in a dangerous Australian bushfire.
Wilbur's story captivated animal lovers with news channels appealing for help to reunite him with his owner.
Firefighters found him wandering alone on Wednesday near Termeil in New South Wales as fires burnt around him.
They looked after the frightened Dachshund overnight and put out a call to try and find his home.
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The bushfires in New South Wales have been raging for weeks and are some of the worst on record.
Six people have died there in the state's north since October.
Luckily, Wilbur's owner quickly came forward to claim him and revealed he was still searching for Wilbur's "brother".
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But just a few hours later, Olly the Beagle was found 16km away from Paul's home in Termeil.
Both dogs appear unhurt and seem delighted to be back with their owner.
Wilbur's story of survival has sparked an outpouring of emotion from other sausage dog owners.
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It's not the first story of animal survival to capture people's imagination. It's not even the first in the recent New South Wales bushfires.
A koala, called Lewis, became famous after video of his rescue from a tree in burning bushland - in a woman's shirt - went viral.
Sadly, he didn't survive his burns and the decision was made to put him down.
Toni rushed into the bush to rescue a koala crying out for help
Back in the UK, a fox was described as the "luckiest in the world" after being rescued from lock gates at Swansea Docks. on 2 December.
It was named Splash after slipping 10ft (3m) and swimming for about five minutes before being rescued by crew onboard a boat that was leaving the docks.
And then, there's the amazing story of a 10-week-old abandoned puppy with a second tail, in the middle of his head.
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He was named Narwhal - after the whale which has a tusk on its head - and was taken in by an animal rescue centre in Missouri.
He's said to be doing well and that there's no need to remove the tail as it's not causing him any pain at all.
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