A lost dog who became the subject of an unprecedented online campaign has been found drowned.

Owner Janice Bannister chartered a helicopter and set up a Facebook page to aid in the search for her missing dog, named Sylvia, after it ran off across sand dunes at Newborough Warren, Anglesey.

The Lost Dog Sylvia group received thousands of messages of support from all over the world, boosted by the sense of community for owners of Japanese Shiba Inus, a breed in part made popular by the online meme “Doge”.

People have travelled from across the UK to join the search over the past week, and Ms Bannister, 48, paid £750 to charter an aircraft on Wednesday.

But on Saturday nine-year-old Sylvia was discovered west of Caernarfon at the mainland entrance to the Menai Strait, a few miles from where she had gone missing.

Ms Bannister, who runs what are thought to be the only kennels exclusively for Shiba Inus in the UK, wrote on Facebook: “RIP sweet Sylvia.

“I am so sorry we couldn’t save you, I promised we’d find you and we did. Now you can come home to rest.