Luke, a black lab

Kennebunkport woman finds dog 17 days after disappearance
By Laura Dolce
November 27, 2008 6:00 AM

KENNEBUNKPORT — This is a story of love lost and found, of a bond so powerful it defies the odds and of friendship forged out of adversity.

It begins on a sunny day in early September with the Nesbit clan gathering for a family reunion in Kennebunkport. Art and Heather Nesbit had made their way up from Pepperell, Mass., and they brought with them their black lab, Luke. At 12, Luke had just come through his second bout with cancer and was still experiencing health problems. He had cysts on each of his paws, and his arthritis was so bad it made walking difficult.

Art and Luke share a special bond, Heather says. When Luke went through his second bout with cancer, Art researched what they could do. They didn't want to make him go through chemo or radiation at his age, she says. Instead, Art found a special diet that seemed to make Luke better. But by the time the reunion came, it was clear Luke was struggling. Still, Art and Heather brought him along because, after all, it was a family reunion.

"Luke is our fourth son," Heather says simply.

That's why it didn't take long for Art to realize Luke was missing that day. With everyone calling and searching it soon became clear: Luke was gone.

Gathering as many people as they could, the Nesbits began to search. They walked through the woods, calling Luke's name. They searched until the sky was dark and the day had passed into the next, but, still, no Luke.

Over the next few days, Art took out ads in the local papers offering a reward for his missing pet. He created fliers. And still he searched. As the days passed, though, Art says he stopped looking for a live dog. Instead, he used a long stick to poke at leaves, looking for a body.

"I even dragged the pond on (daughter) Katie's property," he says.

The Nesbits began to think that Luke, old and sick and knowing the end was near, had wandered off to die. Still, even if it was just his body, Art and Heather wanted to bring Luke home.

While Heather finally returned to their home in Pepperell, Art stayed.

"He would start home, but only get as far as York," Heather says. "He just couldn't leave."

Finally, though, after days of searching, Art had to go home without Luke. There, he gathered up all of the dog's toys in the house, washed Luke's bed. And then he put them all away.

***

Back in Kennebunkport, Deborah Rubero couldn't get Luke's story out of her mind. Back in 2006, Deborah and her husband Jay had gone through the same thing with their 14-year-old dog Dylan. On a late summer night, Dylan went out for one last time and never came back.

Devastated, the Ruberos searched, hung posters and visited every shelter they could find. One day, months later, when husband Jay had stopped in once again to search the cages at the Animal Welfare Society for Dylan, he called Deborah to come down.

There's this dog, he told her. You just have to see him.

So Deborah drove over and met Jethro, a tall Treeing Walker Coonhound with haunting eyes. Jethro had come to the AWS through its Paws Across America program. He was shy, a little bit skittish, and in need of a home. Having lost Dylan, the Ruberos had a hole in their lives that could only be filled by a dog. And so Jethro, who was in need of being saved, instead saved Deborah and Jay. He offered them comfort when, months later, a neighbor called to tell them that Dylan's body had been found.

Because of Dylan, it was perhaps natural that Deborah would take Luke's story to heart.

And so each morning she would snap on Jethro's lead and take him out for his morning walk on the Kennebunkport Conservation Trust land off Gravelly Brook Road. "Let's go find Luke," she'd tell him before letting him off leash. Unbeknownst to the Nesbits, Deborah did this every day for 16 days, a private vigil for her and Jethro. On the 17th day, though, everything changed.

***

Heather was home alone in Pepperell when the phone rang. Luke had been found. Within minutes, Art and Heather were headed back to Maine.

They didn't know very much about Luke's condition, only that he was alive.

"I just told the vet not to put him down," Art says. "I just wanted to see him."

Arriving at the Kennebunk Veterinary Hospital, it was clear that other than being dehydrated, Luke was in pretty good shape.

Overcome, Art got down on the floor with his dog and held him.

The vet's office put Art and Luke in a room and let them spend the day together, Heather says. While Luke lay on a blanket receiving IV fluids, Art lay right next to him, unwilling to leave him for a moment.

While at the vet's office, Art and Heather heard the tale of how Luke was found, of how Deborah and Jethro had succeeded in their mission. Seventeen days after he'd gone missing, down a steep incline and in brush by the side of the Batson River, Jethro found Luke. He'd created a little nest, Deborah says, and just poked his graying muzzle out when she came close. Stunned but thrilled, she raced home to grab a blanket, treats and Jay.

Together, they pushed and pulled Luke up the incline and watched as he walked himself to their car. It was as if Luke knew he was finally going home.

***

Last week, the Nesbits and the Ruberos joined together to walk in the steps Deborah and Jethro took that day when they found Luke. Luke and Jethro ran alongside, tails wagging, smiles wide.
Astonishingly, Luke is in better health now than he was before he was lost. The 14 pounds he lost helped with the arthritis in his hips, Heather says, and when he was found, the cysts had disappeared from his feet.

"This is where I found him," Deborah says to Art, pointing to an area several feet from the river's bank.

Back on top of the hill, the couples pose for photos together with their dogs. Luke sits in front of Art and Heather, gazing up with the same kind of devotion that can be seen on his master's face. Close by are Deborah, Jay and Jethro — saviors, and now friends, brought together by their love of dogs and their unwillingness to give up on bringing Luke home.

Deborah Rubero talks to Art Nesbit as Luke sits with them. Rubero found Luke after he had been missing for 17 days.

"It's unbelievable," Art says, pausing to master his emotions. "I never thought I'd see Luke alive again."

Source: http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20081127-NEWS-811270366

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