Rose, a black Patterdale terrier, survived in woods at Crawley Downs after running away from her family in the middle of 2017.
The 12-year-old dog is thought to have lived on food left for badgers.
Nicki Scriven, from Lost Dog Recovery UK South who rescued Rose, said: “In my ten years working here we have had our fair share of dogs that haven’t made it home and it is heart-breaking and soul destroying.
“It is rewarding for any dog to be found, whether it has been gone a day or six and a half years it is rewarding to get that dog safe.
“It can be heart-stopping, especially with her because we knew she had been feral for so long so we weren’t sure whether she would go into the trap straight away or whether it would take a couple of days.”
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Rose was brought back to safety after Nicki, 41, and others from Lost Dog Recovery found that a passer-by had been feeding her for years.
After drawing up a plan to rescue her the group lured Rose into a metal box with chicken so they could return her to safety.
They were then able to identify her from a microchip which was given to her by her previous family. They had only had Rose as a rescue dog for 24 hours before she went missing.
However, after identifying her previous owners they said they could no longer look after her as they had moved away from Crawley Down and did not have the means to care for a senior dog.
Nicki added: “It is upsetting but at the end of the day we need what is right for Rose and she will need rehabilitating and reassessing before she could go back to a home anyway.
“It is sad that she hasn’t got owners to go to but she is still going to be OK.”
Rose will now go up for rescue again with the hopes of finding her a new family.
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