A little girl's birthday wish came true as she was reunited with her stolen puppy after a social media appeal went viral.

Lexie Taylor was thrilled when her mother handed her Caramel, who was abducted during a burglary at their home in Harlow, Essex.
Hugging the pet, she said: "She looks so different …Thank you whoever you are."

On her eighth birthday on Sunday, she told Sky News she wanted Caramel to come home.

Lexie, who has juvenile arthritis, uses the pet as motivation to move and take exercise. The two were, until the break-in, inseparable.

A Facebook appeal page called "Find Caramel" received 15,000 likes and messages of support from across the world since the pet went missing ten days ago. It was shared more than 12 million times according to her mother Tracy Taylor.

An update said: "We have Caramel home. Amazing but true. Thank you to everyone..."

A £1,000 reward had been offered by a local business for finding the Chihuahua and police in Harlow had also appealed for help in finding Caramel.