Search Dog Luna
Donation protected
Luna is a pretty amazing dog.
If you would have met her at the shelter as a six month old puppy you would have had zero doubt in your mind why this little puppy didn't have a family yet. She was CRAZY!
But Luna got very lucky because she was found and adopted by a special person who was looking for just Luna's kind of crazy. You see Rhywnn Gaffney was an experienced search and rescue dog handler and she saw through all that jumping and nipping and body slamming and "never runs out of energy" behavior and saw the perfect puppy to start training in search and rescue!
Fast forward to 2014... Luna has now been a certified search and rescue canine for about five years. She has multiple "finds" under her belt and is very very good at her job. Luna was even deployed with Texas Task Force 1 to search for over two weeks in Oso, Washington after the mudslides.
Luna carries certifications in Human Remains Detection through the Intetnational Police Working Dog Association and is certified to respond with Texas Task Force 1 as both a state and federal Human Remains Detection canine for FEMA. She also responds with her local search team, Travis County Search & Rescue, to help bring closure to hurting families who have lost a loved one.
Luna was recently diagnosed with a torn ACL and pulled from service until she can have surgery and spend about eight weeks in recovery and rehab. Rhywnn like most handlers is a volunteer and has normal job to pay the bills and make ends meet. People that do search and rescue are rarely rich by the world's standard but rather they are typically passionate people who love giving back to their community. The work they do, the gas to go to trainings and searches as well as all the cost of gear comes out of their own pocket. Including emergency vet care...
As friends and fellow teammates of Rhywnn and Luna we are trying to help spread the word to offset the costs of Luna's surgery. A little bit from a lot of people could help get Luna back in the field and doing what search dogs do best... Find People!
Please consider donating toward the costs of Luna's surgery and rehab. Any potential donations over Luna's direct expenses will be given to Travis County Search & Rescue to assist with emergency care and training needs of the canines. All donations are tax deductible!
If you would have met her at the shelter as a six month old puppy you would have had zero doubt in your mind why this little puppy didn't have a family yet. She was CRAZY!
But Luna got very lucky because she was found and adopted by a special person who was looking for just Luna's kind of crazy. You see Rhywnn Gaffney was an experienced search and rescue dog handler and she saw through all that jumping and nipping and body slamming and "never runs out of energy" behavior and saw the perfect puppy to start training in search and rescue!
Fast forward to 2014... Luna has now been a certified search and rescue canine for about five years. She has multiple "finds" under her belt and is very very good at her job. Luna was even deployed with Texas Task Force 1 to search for over two weeks in Oso, Washington after the mudslides.
Luna carries certifications in Human Remains Detection through the Intetnational Police Working Dog Association and is certified to respond with Texas Task Force 1 as both a state and federal Human Remains Detection canine for FEMA. She also responds with her local search team, Travis County Search & Rescue, to help bring closure to hurting families who have lost a loved one.
Luna was recently diagnosed with a torn ACL and pulled from service until she can have surgery and spend about eight weeks in recovery and rehab. Rhywnn like most handlers is a volunteer and has normal job to pay the bills and make ends meet. People that do search and rescue are rarely rich by the world's standard but rather they are typically passionate people who love giving back to their community. The work they do, the gas to go to trainings and searches as well as all the cost of gear comes out of their own pocket. Including emergency vet care...
As friends and fellow teammates of Rhywnn and Luna we are trying to help spread the word to offset the costs of Luna's surgery. A little bit from a lot of people could help get Luna back in the field and doing what search dogs do best... Find People!
Please consider donating toward the costs of Luna's surgery and rehab. Any potential donations over Luna's direct expenses will be given to Travis County Search & Rescue to assist with emergency care and training needs of the canines. All donations are tax deductible!
Organizer
Megan E. Gotta
Organizer
Cedar Park, TX
