Charlotte the Vietnamese pot-bellied pig is back cheering up elderly folk at a Pennsylvania centre after disappearing from her owners' car.

Katie Manni said Charlotte, a therapy animal at Beaver Elder Care and Rehab Centre in Hopewell Township, was back home in Aliquippa on Friday after having been missing since July 11.

The pig was left in a car with a pair of pug dogs for about 10 minutes while Ms Manni's fiance Edward Perry went into the rehab centre to get keys from Ms Manni, who directs nurses there. When he returned, Charlotte was gone.

The couple had offered a $500 reward for Charlotte's safe return.

Ms Manni did not give further details about the circumstances of Charlotte's return but said previously that someone might have opened the car door to help her get out or to see her up close and she escaped.

Ms Manni and Mr Perry obtained Charlotte in February, when she was six weeks old.

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