The dogs were returned to their owner, Teressa Smith, earlier this week after they escaped while she was on holiday in New Zealand over Christmas.

The dogs were picked up and delivered to the pound, but confusion over who they belonged to led to one being adopted out, while the other was “busted out” of the pound by a vigilante well-wisher who read about the dogs on Facebook.

Albury Council has since conceded the dogs had been listed for adoption prematurely, and has launched an investigation as to how it happened, as well as how one of the dogs was able to be taken from the pound.

But for now, Mrs Smith is just happy to have both pups back where they belong.

“It was hard knowing that they'd gotten out while we were in New Zealand,” she said.

“Finding them was easy, but getting them back was the hard part.”

While Jasper was returned safe and sound by the man who took him from the pound, retrieving Billy was a little more complicated.

His adopted family had already become quite attached – but fortunately for all involved, this story has a happy ending.

“We had to tread carefully getting Billy back, because he'd been adopted by a family with a five-year-old girl who had become quite attached to him,” Mrs Smith said.

“She was really kind, knowing he came from a good family.

“We had to talk to her and let her know she could come and visit any time, or that if we went anywhere she could look after the dogs for us.

“The family was really nice, once they'd seen what had happened on Facebook they made the decision to give them back.”

Last week, Albury mayor Kevin Mack said the pound had made an error in placing the two dogs up for adoption.

“It would appear there’s been a breach of this legislation and the dog has been adopted out early,” Cr Mack said.

Cr Mack urged pet owners to ensure their microchip details were up to date.

Related Coverage: Vigilante takes action after pound's mistake