owner yesterday -- after an appeal in The Royal Gazette .

The pedigree dog faced being handed over to the SPCA and an uncertain future after staying at a vet's in Hamilton for four days.

But the dog's overjoyed owner came forward and claimed the Rottweiler yesterday, minutes after reading a story about his own pet in The Royal Gazette .

The dog, missing from home since Saturday, had run free from her kennel and scampered onto some waste ground near Devon Springs.

She became stuck in a huge dumpster and suffered heat stroke until Police came to rescue her on Saturday night.

Officers took her to Dr. Jan Cieters' animal surgery on North Street and the dog was given fluid replacement therapy until she recovered.

But experts frantically searched for the dog's owner because they feared she might have been pregnant with stillborn babies and may have needed emergency surgery.

The desperate owner, who does not wish to be named, opened his morning paper to read about his own dog yesterday -- and immediately rang the vet's just after 8 a.m.

He said last night: "I am so relieved I just cannot put it into words. The dog isn't actually pregnant but she has an abdominal ulcer.

"I have now spoken to Dr. Cieters about this and her treatment has been arranged.

Rottweiler goes home "She is a beautiful dog and we really appreciate the original story in The Royal Gazette because that's what helped us find her.

"We'd been hunting high and low for four days and we're so grateful to have her back.'' Dr. Cieters added: "The owner called very early in the morning and told us how relieved he was to have located his dog.

"He was very happy to have found her because they had been looking all around the neighbourhood.

"He was actually just about to call the SPCA when he read the paper. The dog is happy, the owner is happy and we're happy.

"It just goes to show how important it was we found the owner. At first, we thought the dog was pregnant and was only about five or six.

"She's actually about 11 years old but she's a lovely dog and all's well that ends well.'' BACK AT HOME -- The lost Rottweiller found in a dumpster.

Graphic file name: DOGGFOUN