Luna’s Story

At the start of April this year, we received a call from a kind person in the Connemara area to say that a young collie-type dog had strayed into their garden with an injury to her paw. We immediately made space at the kennels and the little dog came into our care. Her paw had suffered a serious injury, where it appeared that part of it had been sliced off, and she also had a wound on her lower leg that went as deep as the bone. She was yet another abandoned collie in the west of Ireland who had suffered from neglect and abuse…a story we are far too familiar with.

She was a small, slight and timid girl, and we knew she’d benefit from being in a safe, cosy foster home while she recovered. Our foster coordinator knew exactly who to call: one of our special-needs fosters and adopters, Hannah. We reached out to her and she immediately fell in love with the young dog, who we named Aurelia, meaning “golden” in Latin. As it happened, Hannah had already seen a post about Aurelia in a local community WhatsApp group, so it really felt like it was meant to be.

Hannah, her partner Cathal and their resident MADRA dog, Eddie, took wonderful care of Aurelia. She and Eddie became fast friends. Hannah was incredible, as Aurelia needed many visits to the vet for bandage changes and several courses of medication to help her heal. During this time, Hannah realised that Aurelia was already home, and she went on to formally adopt her.

After several months of treatment, Aurelia’s injury still wasn’t improving and she eventually needed to have her leg amputated. Hannah and Cathal supported her every step of the way and continued to care for her with such kindness. Aurelia, now named Lúna, is happily living her best Tri-Pawd life in Connemara.

A huge thank you to Hannah, Cathal and Eddie for taking such amazing care of Lúna and giving her a second chance. Thank you as well to Barna Vets for looking after her and performing her surgery. We’re so grateful that such a sad beginning has led to such a warm and happy ending.