Search for missing pup in Yellowstone under pressure as winter nears

A small dog that's been on the loose in Yellowstone National Park for a month has been spotted crossing intersections, strolling through employee housing and entering lodges through automatic doors.

Yet Luna, a Jack Russell terrier from California, has eluded capture. And with winter closing in, volunteers in the search for the dog say its time is running out.

Katie Boucher, the volunteer helming the rescue effort, says Luna has good survival instincts. Luna’s family prefers to remain anonymous, but told Boucher that before she was adopted, the 10-year-old dog spent the first year of her life surviving on the streets.

So far, temperatures haven't dropped low enough that Luna could freeze, but that could change in an instant. Boucher is hoping the light dusting of snow in the area is enough to make her want to come home.

“Hopefully she has decided that winter in Yellowstone National Park is not a good vacation,” Boucher said.

On the day she was lost, Luna's family left her in a cabin, with a do-not-disturb sign, while they ventured out to see the park. In what they believe was an accident, housekeeping opened the room door and let Luna out.

“The staff then proceeded to chase her around that area of the park for over two hours before the owners came back and discovered all the chaos and their dog missing,” Boucher said.

Luna's family searched for their pup, but were told it was likely the terrier either died or was eaten by a coyote, Boucher recounted. Days after leaving Yellowstone, Luna's owners were told she had been spotted, and contacted Boucher, the president of the Norris Ark Training and Recovery Center in Norris, Montana, an area just north of the national park.

“I cannot fathom how I would feel if I had been taking the vacation of a lifetime, and looking for all these memorable experiences in one of the most beautiful places on earth, and lost one of my family members there,” Boucher said.

Boucher has been tracking sighting of Luna and says the dog is retracing her family's steps from the day before she was lost, sneaking into eateries or lodges they had visited.

Locals and tourists calling Luna’s name or chasing her, trigger her fight-or-flight response and drive the dog further into the park, Boucher said. The volunteers set a humane trap to lure Luna in using the scent of her family, since using food could attract other wildlife like bears.

This might be the last week Boucher will be able to look for Luna, as weather could potentially limit how long she can stay in the park. Right now, she's sleeping at an RV park for seasonal employees that closes next Monday. Afterward, she'll have to look for somewhere else to stay.

Despite the time crunch, she's is confident she's close to returning Luna to her family.

“Her behavior pattern suggests to me that she is looking for her family,” Boucher said.

The search for the small pup has rallied locals and tourists visiting the area. Marie Jaskula, a resident in the area that runs one of the park's general stores, has posted signs at every entrance to the park so visitors can look out for Luna too.

“It’s really hard to stress the importance of do not chase,” said Jaskula. “Everybody sees this little dog buzz across the intersection or maybe around their employee housing, and the first instinct is to call her name and chase her.”