The odyssey of a lost dog who went missing and wandered across Wiltshire and Hampshire for 10 days in 2020 has been turned into a children’s book authored by her owner.
Luna the pointer-beagle mix was rescued off the streets of Cyprus by Melina Kyriakou of the SuperDogs Rescue organisation, taking a Freedom Flight to the UK to arrive at her forever home in Salisbury with Karen Chapman in 2020.
However, after two months of living with Karen, Luna ran away during an outing at Castle Hill Country Park on Sunday, November 1.
As Karen described it, “[Luna] was frightened by fireworks and literally ran for the hills”.
Solstice Missing Dogs (SMD) helped a devastated Karen search for Luna, documenting sightings and mapping them. It was determined based on reports that Luna was staying in the area of the Bentley Woods to the east of Salisbury.
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The search went on for ten days, with SMD using drones, hidden cameras and humane traps baited with treats.
Karen said: “She was sighted trotting along roads (once where she almost collided with a car), besides train tracks, running across fields, leaping fences, and sneaking into people’s gardens.”
The lost Luna wandered across Wiltshire and Hampshire, travelling by paw all the way to Carter’s Clay, outside Romsey, in a roundabout route that covered 100 miles. She was then spotted by homeowner Paul Legg in his garden, who placed food accessible to Luna and promptly contacted the SMD rescue team. The team arrived at the property the next day, successfully luring Luna onto the property with food and capturing her to be reunited with Karen.
Karen said that upon arriving back home, Luna was ecstatic.
Karen said: “Once she realised where she was, she really did squeal with delight and then slept for two days.”
The book Little Lost Luna documents Luna’s journey in November 2020 across 40 pages illustrated by Ellie Tompkins, contributing 50% of all profits to small dog charities such as Solstice Missing Dogs, SuperDogs Rescue and Foal Farm Animal Rescue Centre in Kent.
Little Lost Luna can be purchased for £9.99 until Wednesday, February 14.
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