A cabin door and a missing dog

Luna, a 10-year-old Jack Russell terrier, disappeared on 10 September while her California family was on vacation at Yellowstone National Park. The family had left her inside a rented cabin with a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door. Her owners believe a housekeeping staffer accidentally opened the door, and the dog slipped out. Staff then spent more than two hours trying to catch her in the area without success. When the owners returned, they found chaos and their dog gone.

Weeks of sightings across the park

Luna was spotted again and again over the following weeks, crossing road intersections, walking through employee housing and entering lodges through automatic doors. Boucher said sightings indicated the dog was retracing the family's steps from the day before she vanished, sneaking into restaurants and lodges they had visited. Katie Boucher, a volunteer who serves as president of the Norris Ark Training and Recovery Center in Norris, Montana, led the rescue effort and acted as spokesperson for the owners. Boucher said Luna had spent her first year on the streets before being adopted, which gave her strong survival instincts. The owners had been told the dog had probably died, possibly killed by a coyote, but they learned of fresh sightings after leaving the park and contacted Boucher.

Boucher said locals and tourists who called out to Luna or chased her triggered her fight-or-flight response and pushed her further into the park. Helpers therefore urged people not to pursue the dog or call her name. The volunteers then set a live trap and used the family's scent to lure her in.

Trap, rescue and the vet visit

The trap was baited with scraps from a T-shirt and a pillowcase belonging to the family. Luna was caught in it on Wednesday, 14 October. Boucher took her to a veterinarian, where the owner held the dog during an examination that afternoon. Boucher described Luna's condition in these words:

“She's underweight, but that's to be expected. She's alert and in good spirits.”

The owners were reunited with their dog that day, ending a search that had lasted more than a month.

Winter approaching

Yellowstone covers roughly 9,000 square kilometers across Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, and it is home to grizzly bears and wolves. The search became more urgent as cold weather approached ahead of winter. Tages Anzeiger reported that temperatures had not yet fallen far enough to threaten Luna with freezing as of 14 October, but that conditions in the park could change suddenly. Boucher had hoped a thin layer of snow might bring the dog back toward people. Boucher had also said the seasonal campground where she was staying was due to close soon, which would end her search.