Luna, a 10-year-old Jack Russell terrier, has been found alive after spending 34 days loose in Yellowstone National Park. The small dog escaped from her family’s rented cabin on September 10 while they were visiting the park.
Rescuers finally found her on October 14, just as the approaching winter threatened to bring the search to a halt. Luna was taken directly to a veterinarian for treatment after losing about 10 pounds from her original weight of 18 pounds.According to a report by 'Cowboy State Daily', Katie Boucher, president of the Norris Arc Training and Recovery Center, led the search. Luna had been spotted dozens of times around the Canyon Village area, but catching her proved difficult.
With search permits nearing expiry and winter conditions approaching, the rescue team had only a few days left to find her before suspending operations.
How Luna escaped from her cabin
Luna was on holiday in Yellowstone with her family from California when she disappeared. On September 10, her owners left her inside their rented cabin in the Canyon Village area while they went to Norris Geyser Basin, where dogs are not permitted. A “Do Not Disturb” sign had been placed on the door, but housekeeping staff apparently entered the room by mistake.
Luna slipped outside and ran away. Her family spent the first week searching for her themselves before seeking help from Boucher and her team.
Although Luna was repeatedly seen around the park, she remained difficult to approach or capture.Boucher said Luna’s early life may help explain her ability to survive alone. The dog had lived as a street dog during the first year of her life before being rescued and adopted. After escaping, she appeared to fall back on those survival instincts, avoiding people rather than seeking help.
“She has street skills,” Boucher had previously told *Cowboy State Daily*. “She knows how to survive.” Luna’s repeated sightings kept hope alive, but the search was becoming increasingly urgent.
Boucher’s permits were due to expire on Monday, while the park’s winter shutdown was expected at the end of October. The team feared that falling temperatures and worsening weather would make it unsafe to continue searching.
The trap that finally brought Luna to safety
Boucher narrowed down the area where Luna appeared to be sleeping each night and set up a humane Missy trap. The enclosure was equipped with shelter and items carrying familiar scents to encourage the dog to enter. The trap could be monitored remotely and closed once Luna was safely inside. The breakthrough came on Wednesday morning, October 14. Boucher’s team had placed a small doghouse inside the trap to give Luna shelter during a storm.
When the rescuers returned to reset the trap and continue their efforts, they found the terrier inside the doghouse.“We put a small doghouse in there for shelter during the storm,” Boucher told Cowboy State Daily. “This morning, when we went to reset it and resume our trapping efforts, she was in the doghouse waiting for us.” Luna’s owners, who had returned from California earlier to help with scent-trail efforts, were the first to reach the trap and find her.
Boucher arrived soon afterwards. “The feeling never gets old,” she said.
“Pure joy.” After more than a month of uncertainty, the reunion marked the end of an exhausting search that had drawn attention from people in and around the national park. The rescuers had been racing against a seasonal deadline, and Luna’s capture meant they would not have to abandon the effort and return in the spring.
Luna is taken to a veterinarian
Luna was taken straight to a veterinarian after being found.
As of Wednesday afternoon, she was still receiving medical attention, and Boucher said she was waiting to learn more about the dog’s condition. At that point, she did not know whether Luna would need to stay overnight. The weight loss was significant. Luna weighed 18 pounds when she escaped and had lost about 10 pounds during her time alone, leaving her roughly 8 pounds.
That represents a loss of more than half her original body weight, making veterinary assessment especially important after her prolonged time outdoors.The precise extent of her condition had not yet been confirmed when *Cowboy State Daily* published its report. While the successful capture brought relief to her family and rescuers, Luna still needed professional care after her ordeal. Her survival in Yellowstone’s wilderness, followed by her safe capture just before the winter search deadline, brought a hopeful conclusion to a month-long effort. For the rescuers who continued looking despite repeated setbacks, the moment they found Luna waiting inside the doghouse was the news they had worked so hard to deliver.