A brave pet chihuahua tried to fight off a Godzilla-like monitor lizard invading its owner's house.

Despite its disadvantage in size, the hero pet named Sushi pounced on the huge reptile that had entered owner Monnawee Saichamcha's property in Chonburi province, Thailand on May 30.

The pooch barked at the lizard and tried to bite it, but was easily thwarted by the beast, which swatted the tiny dog away with a flick of its tail.

Pooch owner Monnawee, 65, said: 'My family and I were in the house while Sushi was roaming around. Suddenly, she started barking at the huge lizard leaping over the fence.

'Sushi tried to chase it away by barking and biting but she was no match for the large animal, so she had to step back and just keep barking.'

Monnawee called volunteers from the Sawangrojana Foundation to remove the lizard from his house. They arrived and found Sushi exhausted after clashing with the trespasser.

It took the rescuers 30 minutes to catch the wild animal as it was aggressive and fled under a table to hide. They managed to snag it using a noose, before binding it with rope so it could not bite them.

The lizard will later be released back into the wild.