A THREE-LEGGED Romanian street dog has been reunited with her elated owner after spending nine months on the run around the North-East.

Cross-breed Sweetpea vanished in June after slipping out of her collar during a walk at Cowpen Bewley Park, near her home in Billingham.

In the months following her disappearance she was seen in Billingham and Thornaby, and near the Riverside Stadium in Middlesbrough.

She made the journey between Billingham and Middlesbrough a number of times, before settling in the Longlands Road area of the town, where she was eventually caught.

Her owner, Alison Rigby, 44, said: “I feel like a massive weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I am just over the moon to have her back.

“At one point I thought this was going to go on forever and that we are going to have to feed her in the wild. It is one of the hardest things I have ever done.

“I kept the collar she was wearing when she went missing and have had it waiting for her, hung up.

“It was incredible to put it back on her, as I never thought I was going to be able to do it again.”

Hundreds of people joined the nine-month search for the seven-year-old dog, with a hardy group of volunteers – named Team Sweetpea – spending every evening out searching for her, and filling a humane trap with food for her.

A dedicated Facebook page, called Help find Sweetpea, had also attracted almost 1,500 likes.

However, because she was a street dog, she is wary of humans, and the only human Sweetpea trusts is Miss Rigby.

The senior technician at Darlington Civic Theatre re-homed Sweetpea and another three-legged dog, Apple, in February last year from a charity named Love UnderDogs, which finds homes for vulnerable Romanian street dogs.

“We got two three-legged street dogs because nobody else looked at them,” she added.

“Sweetpea is exceptionally clever. We were watching her from across the road and she watches the traffic, only crossing if there are no cars about. If it was any of my other dogs they would be dead.

“She is still very nervous and shy, but she has been better since she came back.”

Miss Rigby thanked everyone who had helped during the search for Sweetpea, and added: “I have met some amazing people. The amount of support we have had over these nine months is amazing.”