SYDNEY: Nine years after vanishing from outside her Australian family's home, Muffy the dog was found alive and well this month in another backyard - 1,920 kilometers away - officials said yesterday.

Inspectors with the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) were investigating a possible animal cruelty case at a home in the southern city of Melbourne two weeks ago when they found the fluffy white mutt sleeping outside on a scrap of cardboard, Victoria state RSPCA spokesman Tim Pilgrim said.

A microchip in Muffy's neck identified her owners, and, after a few days of searching for a current phone number, officials tracked down Natalie Lampard, who hadn't seen Muffy since the pooch disappeared from her backyard in the eastern city of Brisbane nine years ago.