A puppy that went missing four months ago has mysteriously reappeared nearly 200 miles from home.

Lady, a lurcher from Dorset, wandered into Robert Swinhoe’s garden in Orgarswick Farm Lane, Burmarsh.

Mr Swinhoe, a dog lover, enticed her into his house, gave her food and water, and contacted Shepway dog warden Karyl Rimmer.

Mrs Rimmer visited Mr Swinhoe and checked the dog for a microchip. From the details given by the chip company, she discovered that the owners, Oliver Bennett and Lucy Eke, were in the West Country.

Mrs Rimmer said: “I couldn’t believe it when they said how far away they lived and that Lady had been missing since June.”

The owners immediately travelled to Kent and were reunited with Lady that same day.

Mrs Rimmer said: “It was an emotional reunion. We were all in tears.”

The couple were living in Dorchester when Lady vanished from their front garden in June. They have since moved to Bournemouth, and are now helping Lady adjust to home life there.

Ms Eke said: “She was only a few months old when she went missing, and it was a bit of a shock to see how much she had grown.

“But I knew it was her by the ginger markings on her ears and along her back.

“She was such a cheeky puppy and full of life. She’s very quiet at the moment and will obviously take a bit of time to settle.

“No-one knows what’s she been through in the past few months.”

There is no explanation as to where Lady had been, how she survived and why she ended up so far from home. Burmarsh is 191 miles by motorway from Dorchester.

“No-one knows what’s she been through in the past few months” - Lucy Eke

SDC cabinet member for the environment Cllr Stuart Peall said Lady’s case showed the value of microchipping dogs and keeping their details up to date.

He said: “Microchipping means puppies can be traced back to their breeders, which helps reduce the problems of puppy farming, deters dog theft, and helps us reunite dogs with their owners.”

From April, all dogs must be microchipped and registered to an approved database by the time they are eight weeks old.