It’s been two years since Sally, a nursing home resident at The Arbors in Westfield, handed away — and remedy canine Luna, the English cocker spaniel with the “long beautiful lashes,” nonetheless runs to her room each time she visits.
“And Sally’s no longer there, and we start crying because she still remembers. She wants to see Sally who just loved and adored [the therapy dogs],” stated Talin Ganemian, The Arbors’ reflections director.
The resident was considered one of many who benefitted from “Love on a Leash,” a nationwide remedy pet program with a chapter in Western Massachusetts.
But 5-year-old Luna and her siblings, Gabby, 3, and Gia, 4, haven’t been making their typical rounds.
Luna has been lacking since Sept. 11, after the three dogs ran off in Chester and solely two got here home.
Luna is a black and white spaniel with black ears and markings round her eyes, lengthy darkish eyelashes and an enormous black spot on her again. Her homeowners maintain her furry white head tufts cleanly brushed, and freckles dot her paws and face.
On Sept. 11, Luna’s proprietor was taking her dogs out of her automobile at her home on Bromley Road in Chester, when she fell within the driveway and misplaced maintain of their leashes.
The dogs took off down the road, she stated, and Gia got here to a cease at a neighbor’s home. But Gabby and Luna saved operating, leashes, collars and all.
Owner Assunta “Susie” Criscio, 66, is the Western Massachusetts chapter co-leader of “Love on a Leash,” and has her dogs skilled as volunteer animals via this system.
She brings them to consolation folks in scheduled visits to The Arbors, three different nursing properties, a Holyoke psychological well being clinic, St. Mary’s Parish School, Westfield State University and different Massachusetts and Connecticut colleges and summer season camps.
Immediately, Criscio and her pal, roommate and former police chief Judy Jackson, 79, got down to search the streets on their very own — however the dogs had vanished, Criscio stated. They reported the animals as lacking to regulation enforcement, and put up posters in a 10-mile radius of the home.
Bromley Road is in a closely forested space of Chester, a tiny city of round 1,500 folks simply lower than an hour exterior Springfield.
People searched the woods with ATVs and drones, hunters checked path cameras and associates lined each road on the town. There have been 4 to 5 folks wanting “at all times” from “dawn to dusk,” Criscio stated.
“Gia sat on the again of the sofa from morning ‘til night, just looking out the window at the driveway,” Jackson said, but there was “no sign” of Gabby or Luna — until five days later, when Jackson got a call.
Gabby turned up on the main road, about 2 miles away from home with her collar and leash still on.
“She was sitting right there beside [the neighbor] when we got there to pick her up,” Jackson said, recalling how happy the reunion was.
But in Luna’s absence, Criscio stated her little household is “not doing too well” — Gabby refuses to go exterior with out Criscio in any respect, and Gia can’t go to any of their usually scheduled remedy classes as a result of she “screams” when she’s left alone; a brand new conduct since her return.
“They’re not for my therapy… well, maybe they are,” Criscio laughed half-heartedly. An proprietor of English spaniels for years, she’d gotten Luna first from her trusted breeder in New Hampshire.
“And then, it’s easier with two,” Criscio stated, explaining how she went to Indiana for Gia subsequent. Finally, it was again to New Hampshire to get Gabby, and the trio was full.
“It’s just amazing what a visit with a dog can do … even at the university level, very often you hear [the students] say, ‘I miss my dog. I’m so glad you’re here,’ or ‘I really needed you today,’” Criscio and Jackson stated.
“It’s good for the dogs, it’s good for the people we visit. It’s also good for us,” Jackson added. And that goodness is unfold all through the group.
When the residents at The Arbors know “Love on a Leash” is coming to go to, they spend the day baking cookies and arranging bandanas in pleasure — particularly for Luna.
“We are just so heartbroken. The residents are missing her,” stated Ganemian.
“Luna has a lot of impact on everyone because of her beautiful lashes; I mean, this is the dementia community, and the first thing they notice is how pretty her lashes are, and they start saying, ‘Won’t you wish you had lashes like that?’” Ganemian stated.
“They cradle her; she makes this cute ‘cry’ noise for attention … and everyone would stop, and then she’s got the cutest eyes and is bobbing her lashes [at them]. She’s very special to us and we miss her; we need her to come back home,” the director stated.
The English spaniels additionally give kids a protected area to learn to learn “without judgement,” Criscio stated. The dogs sit with the kids as they learn aloud with a “Love on a Leash” volunteer, who’s there for studying assist in the event that they want it.
“I think the children were able to help Luna with her training of being a service dog and being around a lot of people; there’s a lot of children coming and going,” stated Jennifer Van Heynigen, third-grade instructor at St. Mary’s.
“It’s more suited for building their confidence … if they get stuck on a word, the person they’re sitting with can help and they don’t have to worry about feeling embarrassed because of the dogs,” the instructor stated.
“When their books get more challenging, they love telling the dog, ‘OK, we have a harder book, a chapter book.’ [The dogs’] presence is just so comforting and makes the kids so happy; they become more confident and then they’re better readers all around,” Van Heynigen added.
Criscio and Jackson do really feel, nonetheless, there was one thing somewhat off about Gabby’s sudden return in good situation.
“After five days, she’s not even hungry,” Criscio stated. Gabby was additionally utterly clear — “If she had been in the woods, she would have been stuck with branches or twigs, especially with her cocker ears,” Jackson stated.
“Her collar wasn’t dirty; it’d rained for two days and the leash was barely damp, and there was not one spot on it,” Criscio added.
The circumstances have led the pet homeowners to assume somebody may have picked the dogs up from the street, although that has not been confirmed by regulation enforcement. Criscio added Gabby is a “handful” and onerous to handle, and isn’t but absolutely skilled with the remedy program.
The girls are hopeful if Luna continues to be with a person, she can be delivered to a groomer’s or vet’s workplace as a result of she’s microchipped.
Criscio isn’t seeking to blame or accuse, and is even providing a financial reward — something for Luna to return home.
To report details about the lacking canine, name Criscio at 413-977-9214.
