A Caversham woman is relieved to have her chihuahua Mickey home after she forgot where she had parked her car, leaving the pint-sized dog stranded in it for eight hours.
On Tuesday, the Dunedin SPCA launched a search for the beloved pet after being contacted by owner Ivy Kokay (78).
Mrs Kokay said she knew she parked ‘‘somewhere'' in South Dunedin. However, after hours of ‘‘yattering'', she forgot where.
A post on the Dunedin SPCA Facebook page asking for people to help search for the vehicle received more than 700 shares, and more than 100 comments from people who said they would help look.
Tash Jamieson, of Dunedin, said she found the vehicle and a ‘‘sleepy'' Mickey at 7pm in a staff car park in the back of the Orphans Aid shop in Glasgow St.
The car was partially hidden by a shipping container.
Ms Jamieson decided to help with the search because she was reminded of her own grandparents.
'‘I didn't do it for the glory. I did it because if it was my grandparents I would hope people would do that, too.''
Mrs Kokay said she knew Mickey would not be too distressed after being in the car for so long.
‘‘I take him everywhere I go and I always leave the windows down a bit for him.''
While it was ‘‘very unfortunate'' to suffer from such memory loss, she was pleased by the response from people in Dunedin and further afield.
News of Mickey's predicament even reached Mr Kokay's sister in the Netherlands, he said.
‘‘It wasn't concern about the car, it was the dog!'' he said.
While he was not an avid Facebook user, the amount of attention the post gained did not surprise him.
‘‘It wasn't long before it had 300 hits on it. But it worked. That's how we found him.''
Yesterday, Mickey appeared oblivious to his new-found stardom.
