Beloved therapy dog found in woods after missing for days: ‘It’s a miracle’

SCITUATE, R.I. (WJAR) - A beloved high school therapy dog is now back with his owner after spending days lost in the woods.

Kobe, a 9-year-old beagle, spent most of last week missing after he wandered away from his owner’s home.

Krissy Luongo, Kobe’s owner, said he has comforted a lot of people over the years in his role as a therapy dog.

“He has this personality where he was very comforting to people,” she said.

Kobe has been a therapy dog at Smithfield High School. But he suffers from epilepsy and Luongo said she knew that he needed to be found quickly.

“I just felt he must be out there so helpless. My biggest fear was that he was in the middle of a field just incapable of moving,” Luongo said.

After days of searching, Luongo enlisted the help of a pet tracking company called Packleader PetTrackers, a group that helps search for missing dogs.

“We use scent-specific canines to track down missing pets,” said Packleader PetTrackers owner Jamie Genereux.

The scent-sniffing dogs narrowed the search down to one area and the team was able to spot Kobe when they were putting up trail cameras to help him.

“They noticed Kobe was belly up in the field, almost disguising himself as a rock. So, we ran right over, and Kobe was just ecstatic,” Luongo said.

She added, “We were all just so overcome with emotion. It’s a great sense of relief just to know he’s alive.”

After the ordeal, Kobe got to meet Dexter, one of the dogs that helped trace his scent which led to his rescue.

“It’s a miracle to me,” Luongo said.

Genereux said this is why they do what they do.

“It’s the best feeling. That’s why we do it, to see this at the end,” he said.

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