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LOIS LANE IS HOME AGAIN

This is the tale of a lost dog, a beautiful Gloucester black lab named Lois Lane. This is a tale of three friendly competitors in the food business who without realizing it, helped reunite Lois with her owners. And this is the story of a teenage boy in Gloucester with a keen eye and a good heart.

Lois Lane and best friend, Clark Kent, both Labrador Retrievers, live in Gloucester with their owners, Matt Beach and John Lamirande, who are two of the owners of Duckworth’s Beach Gourmet on Washington Street. On Sunday afternoon, Lois and Clark were in their back yard when suddenly Lois was gone. Matt scoured the neighborhood with no success. Friends converged to hunt for Lois, but by nightfall she had not returned home.

Monday was a flurry of the usual syllabus of activities for lost dogs: e-mails, Facebook postings, placing a “lost dog” ad in the Gloucester Daily Times, making signs and posters, and calls to Cape Ann Animal Aid, the Police, local veterinarians, and the Animal Control Officer. Around 5 PM friends dispersed around Gloucester to hang posters and search once again for the still missing Lois Lane.  It was just a short time after that their friend Kim Dustin, owner of Kimini Concierge, who also works at Duckworth Beach Gourmet, stopped by several locations on Washington Street, Richdale, Willow Rest, etc. and posted her picture on bulletin boards. Within minutes of the posters being hung, Lenny Leonardo, age 15, saw the poster and phoned his mom to tell her he thinks he found the owner of the missing Lois Lane. Lenny’s parents own Leonardo’s Restaurant on Main Street. Lenny’s mother, Brenda, had shared a story of a black lab who hung out in Lenny’s grandmother’s neighborhood over night. Brenda called Matt, and within ten minutes Matt and John were at the front door where Lois Lane was waiting for them, her body shaking and her tail wagging wildly. It was too soon to tell whether she had been hurt.

Immediately, they called Ray Cahill, owner of Seaport Veterinary Hospital, Lois’s veterinarian, whose office was closed. He was expecting people for dinner, but he said that he’d meet them at his office in 15 minutes to see if Lois had sustained any injuries. The X-rays look good, and while Lois is still tentative, she’s on the mend.

When the excitement of the reunion died down, Matt and John reflected back on the past 40 hours. What a community we live in! With individuals reaching out to help through emails, Facebook posting, phone calls, and businesses partnering together to help local citizens in a time of need.  And then there is Lenny, not you’re typical teenage boy but someone who’s thoughtful enough to care for someone else’s pet. When asked what could be done to thank him for his thoughtfulness and attention, Mrs. Leonardo said nothing, Lenny was so relieved that he was able to help and that was enough for him.

If Lois Lane could talk, we bet she’d be saying, “Was that you, Superman?”