Luna, a German shepherd who was surrendered to the Evanston Animal Shelter more than a year ago, has been returned to her owner after the two spent years apart.
Juan Perez, a 23-year-old Waukegan resident, left Luna with family when he enlisted in the U.S. Army over three years ago. He ended up being stationed at Fort Stewart in Georgia, hundreds of miles away from his family and four-legged friend.
Luna was surrendered to the shelter on Aug. 26, 2022 after Perez’ sister, who was taking care of Luna, was told by her landlord to remove the dog immediately. The Evanston Animal Shelter became Luna’s new home, a place where she would stay for 467 days, or almost a year and four months.
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Tanya Ohanian, the canine director at the Evanston Animal Shelter, said Luna refused to leave her kennel for several days after she was surrendered.
“She just wanted absolutely nothing to do with us,” Ohanian said.
It took a week of one-on-one care for Luna to get acclimated to the new surroundings, but she remained skittish around new people, making it very difficult to get her adopted.
It came as a surprise to Ohanian when a co-worker told her about a call to the shelter asking about Luna. It was Perez, who had returned from his service and was looking for his canine companion.
“I’ve never called anybody back so fast in my life,” Ohanian said.
Their reunion had some at the shelter worried, wondering if Luna would recognize her owner, but Ohanian said the moment Luna smelled him she nearly pulled her to the ground trying to race to him.
“To see the immediate ‘yes this is my person,’ we were all in tears,” Ohanian said.
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The moment also hit home for Perez, who said Luna wanted to play right from the get-go and even was excited to see his mother, jumping all over her.
Luna didn’t get to come home immediately, as it took six months for Perez to get settled and find housing. Despite this, Perez and his family came nearly every weekend for those six months to see her.
“It was kind of sad, because every time I was taking her back into the shelter, she always wanted to go in the car to go home, but I had to tell her I couldn’t,” Perez said.
Luna was finally able to go home with her dad on Dec. 3 after 467 days in the shelter. Having her home helps Perez feel safe, as Luna was trained to be a guard dog, a job she does well.
“She’s been adjusting really good,” Perez said. “No problems, no nothing. Just normal … she’s my everything.”
The storybook ending is the best case scenario for Luna, said Ohanian.
“Luna has taught all of us at the shelter a lot about dog handling, unconditional love, and life,” read a post on the Evanston Animal Shelter’s Facebook page. “She is so special and we couldn’t be happier for this very special girl!”
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Perez said he is looking forward to taking care of Luna until she gets old as the pair grows older together.
With Luna back home, the shelter’s longest residents are Ralphie and Gordo, two young pit-bull terriers who were brought in as strays.
A new shelter building is currently under construction with plans to move in during spring 2024.
The shelter is an open admission, no-kill shelter that takes in dogs and cats of all sizes and backgrounds.
“We really pride ourselves on taking those animals in and giving it 100% with every single animal we get,” Ohanian said. “Luna is really the perfect example of that … when Juan (Perez) came back into her life … we would have done anything to make that work.”
