The beautiful Luna and her adoptive brother, the handsome Rocket, are featured on the cover of the current issue of Pet Connection, a Canadian pet health magazine. They are both happy, healthy rescue dogs.
Luna was adopted April 7 from the Flin Flon/Creighton and Area SPCA by Robin Marshall and Zane Constant of The Pas. The couple had previously adopted Rocket in their home town, just in time to save him from being euthanized.
Thinking the young and exuberant husky-greyhound mix sled dog might like a playmate, they found Luna, then known as Momma, on the Flin Flon/Creighton and Area SPCA Facebook page.
Marshall has a high opinion of the shelter in Flin Flon following their adoption process.
“They do a good job and they are so wonderful to adopt through,” Marshall says.
While at the SPCA, Luna was known as Momma. She and her two puppies came into the shelter for care in December 2017 from Deschambault Lake.
Gail Neufeld, shelter manager, said, “A concerned family called us about her and her two pups, which we agreed to take. Originally we were only supposed to get the two puppies, but once they were en route to our shelter, Momma started chasing their truck.”
They stopped and opened the door, and “Momma jumped right in and lay down, as if to say she did not want to be left behind.”
When they arrived at the shelter and opened the truck door, the SPCA staff was struck by Momma’s stunning appearance.
“We thought for sure it was a wolf or a coyote,” said Neufeld.
“We actually did her DNA and it came back as Alaskan malamute, German shepherd, Siberian husky and Akita.“
They also had a hybrid DNA test done, which tests for wolf, fox and coyote.
“It came back negative, but we still think there is wolf or coyote in her,” says Neufeld. “Everyone who met Momma fell in love with her and commented on how stunning and gorgeous she is.”
However, Momma didn’t look her best when she first arrived at the shelter.
“Once in our care, we noticed Momma was really itchy. She was treated for mange,” Neufeld explains.
Neither of Momma’s two female puppies were in good shape, and one died.
“Balloo and her sister, who did not survive as she had a very bad heart murmur, were completely covered in lice, which took us about a month to clear up.”
Momma was at the shelter for about four months. Her pup Balloo had a longer stay, but on May 11, she, too, found her forever home.
Momma’s adoption meant a promising new life and a new name – Luna, chosen by Marshall and Constant.
The young couple, both with roots in The Pas, had just bought a house and wanted to bring a dog into their life as well. Marshall believes prospective pet owners should adopt from shelters whenever possible.
When, just about a year ago, the couple contacted the Town of The Pas about adopting Rocket, they had only an hour to make the life-saving decision that saw Rocket became part of their family.
Next, the pair wanted to make sure he wasn’t lonely while they were away from home at work.
Marshall said Luna and Rocket clicked immediately. They brought him along on the hour and a half drive from The Pas to Flin Flon to collect his new playmate.
The two dogs couldn’t have more different personalities. Luna, said Marshall, is laid back, but vocal, while Rocket is hyper, but they were close right from the start, and now “they love each other completely.”
The new family spends much of its spare time in outdoor activity, often visiting Clearwater Provincial Park, where an interest in photography has resulted in numerous snaps of their dogs. Marshall saw a notice for Pet Connection’s cover photo contest and submitted a photo taken at Camper’s Cove early this summer. Soon after, she was notified it had been chosen for the August-September cover.
She had to keep it a secret until the issue came out.
“We have one copy of the magazine that Robin dropped off for us,” says Neufeld. “It is at the shelter if people would like to look at it.”
The Flin Flon/Creighton and Area SPCA is happy to have played a part in Luna’s rise to fame.
“All our staff had an input,” says Neufeld, listing Erica Husberg, president, Brenna Benko, shelter assistant, and Katrina D’Ambroso, part time shelter assistant.
