Rescue Dog Turned Therapy Dog Helps Save Owner

By Caroline Golon

When Beth Zilbert trained her rescued Golden retriever, Luke, to become a therapy dog, she had no idea that one day he would help her survive her own trauma.

“Luke was found wandering the streets after Hurricane Katrina,” says Zilbert, of Lake Charles, La. The pound that was keeping him sensed he was special and pleaded with Zilbert to adopt him. “They told me, ‘this is a fantastic dog; you have to come get him.’”

From the beginning, Zilbert says Luke had a calming presence and a gentle and sensitive manner. She recalls her then-husband commenting, “This dog lowers my blood pressure!”

It occurred to them both that Luke would be a good therapy dog. “I said, ‘He is going to open doors,’ and that’s exactly what he did,” says Zilbert.

Luke inspired Zilbert to co-found the Humane Society of Louisiana, Southwest Louisiana Chapter, to focus on humane education and pet therapy.

Zilbert, an attorney specializing in advocacy for domestic violence victims, hoped to help “problems solve themselves” through the organization’s program, New Leash on Life. The program recruits juvenile delinquents to help train the shelter dogs to be therapy dogs.

But as their program took off, tragedy struck. While driving home one night, Zilbert and her co-founder, Shannon Cox, were hit head-on by an impaired driver. Zilbert survived, but Cox and the passenger in the other car did not.

Emotionally shattered and diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Zilbert struggled to return to her normal life. She turned to Luke for help.

Luke helped Zilbert cope and eventually return to work. The gentle dog was even alongside Zilbert when she walked into the courtroom to confront the driver responsible for the accident. Despite her fears, Zilbert says, “With Luke there with me, I knew I could do it.”

This was the first time a therapy dog had been allowed to accompany a victim into court. It was a Louisiana court history milestone.

Today, Zilbert’s programs have involved more than 100 kids from the Juvenile Detention Center and trained and found homes for 61 former shelter dogs. Zilbert hopes that number will grow with her newest project, Patriot Dogs, which engages female felons to help train dogs for veterans with PTSD.

For a long time, Zilbert tried to make sense of why she survived the crash. But now she knows first hand how important therapy dogs are to victims. “Now when I go to work, I can’t wait to get there. I have a big smile on my face.” And, she has Luke by her side.