For 528 days, Valerie the miniature dachshund survived in the Australian wilderness by eating roadkill, evading venomous snakes and eluding the grasp of humans who wanted to rescue her. All the while, her owners worried about whether they would see her again.

Valerie, a tiny wiener dog with a pink collar, first went missing in November 2023 after she escaped from her pen on an Australian beach.