Déjà vu: Hilton Head is trying to find a runaway German shepherd again. What happened?
Talk about déjà vu.
Hilton Head Island is once again trying to capture a runaway white German shepherd.
No, it’s not Bruno, who was seen wandering around Palmetto Dunes, Leamington and Shelter Cove in May and June. (He was caught last month.)
It’s Luna, a white German shepherd who escaped from her owner on May 2 and has since been exploring Sea Pines.
Island residents have recently posted photos to Facebook of Luna sleeping in a sand trap and racing around Harbour Town Golf Links.
“We never see white German shepherds, and then we have two loose on Hilton Head,” said Tallulah McGee, director of Beaufort County Animal Services.
Luna’s owner is from North Carolina, McGee believes. The owner was visiting family in Sea Pines, she said, when Luna got spooked at a grocery store and escaped.
She’s now been on the run for 10 weeks and counting.
It’s been difficult to track the dog, McGee said. Luna is mostly nocturnal, and is typically spotted early in the morning.
“We can’t dart her, ‘cause we don’t see her,” McGee said. “She’s been doing a big loop. She’s been to the beach.”
Animal Services has enlisted some Sea Pines residents to help monitor Luna, and Joanne Hammer, founder of the “Lost Paws of the Lowcountry” Facebook group, has created a Luna-specific Facebook group for people to post sightings of the German shepherd.
The county is also moving a hog trap to Sea Pines, which Aaron Eaton, an Animal Services officer, successfully used to capture Bruno.
Many people have been confused about the situation. Some residents initially thought Luna was Bruno, and vice versa, Hammer said.
But Bruno was a completely separate case. A young woman on Hilton Head bought Bruno in Georgia after she noticed an online ad about him in mid-April, McGee previously said.
Bruno escaped from the woman almost immediately once he reached the island.
“I think he captured the hearts of a lot of people,” Hammer has said.
What’s next?
Animal Services is asking Sea Pines residents for help finding Luna. People can join the public “Luna White German Shepherd Sea Pines” Facebook group to alert McGee and Eaton to Luna sightings.
