Luna

Photo © 2009 - Mission:wolf

Luna was a dog – a great big white shepherd mix with a friendly and happy-go-lucky nature. However, a private breeder lied and sold her as a high percentage wolf-dog cross. Sadly, many people misrepresent their animals this way to make more money off of their sale. Even though Luna was a dog, she was still too much for her family to handle.

She eventually found her way to Mission:Wolf in 1991.  At the time, a big white wolf named Rowdy was living by himself at the refuge. Rowdy had come from Texas, after losing his home with a family and spending a year in a concrete cage on an oil field. He didn’t trust anyone at the refuge and had slid into depression. Huge, happy Luna moved in with Rowdy, bossed him around, and cheered him up.

These two spent many years living together in peace, teaching visitors about the differences between wolves and dogs. Looking at Luna and Rowdy next to each other, it was easy to see they were complete opposites in every way but color. They were great examples of misrepresented wolves and wolf-dogs being sold for profit alone.

In early 1997 Luna developed a stuffy nose. A week later they discovered an inoperable tumor in her nose and mouth. The staff made Luna as comfortable as possible, giving her free reign of the community building.  She spent the last four months of her life living on the couch in the community building eating anything she could persuade the staff to feed her. Her attitude was vibrant and her smiling face was happy but her body was failing, she died in June at the age of twelve.