A dog owner is warning others after an eagle picked up her chihuahua puppy and flew away with the beloved pet in Canberra.

The owner was taking her 10-month-old dog to the toilet at the Southside Village caravan park on Canberra Avenue in Symonston on Tuesday 3 December.

“We saw her get picked up, it happened very fast and she didn’t appear to get dropped,” she said.

A status was posted to the Canberra Lost Pet Database where at first, the owners asked if anyone saw her to let them know so they could bury her.

“We have given up on finding her body but will keep the post up to spread awareness,” the post said.

Eagles that can be spotted in Canberra are the wedge-tailed eagle and the little eagle.

The ACT Government’s environment, planning and sustainable development directorate said the little eagle was declared a vulnerable species in the ACT in 2008. It is also listed as a vulnerable in New South Wales.

“Given that almost 80% of lowland woodland areas in the ACT have been lost since European settlement, the primary threat to the Little Eagle is loss of habitat,” the government website said.

“In the 2017-2018 breeding season, a minimum of nine nesting pairs of Little Eagles were confirmed in the ACT.”

The government department said this breed is the smallest eagle in the world.

Little Eagles are stocky, powerful birds with a wingspan of over a metre. They have a broad head, fully feathered legs and a square-cut, barred tail and can have light or dark colour forms.

Bush Heritage Australia said wedge-tailed eagles were one of the 24 diurnal raptor species in Australia.

“Like other birds of prey, it has a hooked bill and large talons. Females are larger than males and can weigh up to 5.3 kilograms, measure 1 metre from head to tail-tip and have a wingspan of up to 2.3 metres.