by Marty Green ·
Friday, February 13, 2026
Christopher O’Neil and his dog Cass (left) found Gizmo and called for help. Sheila Cregar (right) carries Gizmo out to the road for transport to the animal hospital. (Courtesy photos)
For nearly three weeks, many Harvard residents have been gripped by the story of little Gizmo, a black, three-legged shih tzu who got out of a fenced enclosure on Jan. 20 and remained missing for 16 days. People followed updates to his saga on the social media site Nextdoor, on Facebook, and by word of mouth.
Gizmo is about 12 years old, and he lost his leg to cancer a few years ago. When he got loose, Gizmo was staying on Old Shirley Road with Sheila Cregar, while his owners, Ken and Holly Lee, were having some construction done at their home. Holly is Cregar’s daughter.
At first, a number of people reported glimpses of Gizmo, either to the police or sometimes on social media. He was spotted along Old Shirley Road, Ayer Road, and later Prospect Hill Road. But the dog had always moved on before help arrived. On Jan. 21, Robert Curran joined the search with his drone. But without more accurate information on a specific area to search, the drone was not effective. Gizmo seemed to have disappeared.
The tiny dog remained missing throughout the massive snowstorm of Jan. 26 and the bitter cold that followed. Many neighbors and friends continued to search for him, hiking on trails around Prospect Hill or in the Hermann Orchard. Residents looked for him as they walked their own dogs or drove around their neighborhood. The Department of Public Works put up a flyer with his picture in the office so the DPW drivers could keep an eye out for him on their routes.
Gizmo’s photo and information were posted online by the nonprofit organization Missing Dogs Massachusetts, which has been helping find lost dogs since 2015. Board member Bernice Gero said the group receives reports of 1,200 to 1,400 missing dogs a year, and about 80% of those dogs are reunited with their owners. Three of the group’s volunteers worked with Gizmo’s “family.”
Then, on Feb. 5, Prospect Hill Road resident Christopher O’Neil was walking his dog Cass on a path behind Fruitlands, near the railroad tracks. Cass is a Great Pyrenees mix, so he is very much at home in the snow. Usually the dog is good about coming when called, O’Neil said. But that day, Cass went off into the woods and came only a little way back when called. He seemed unwilling to leave the area. O’Neil became curious and went to see what Cass found so interesting.
Gizmo before he went missing.
On a bed of leaves in a deep hole in the snow, O’Neil saw a little black dog, curled in a ball. He could see it was breathing, and when he touched it, it moved its head slightly. O’Neil took off his sweatshirt and put it over the dog. Then he called the police, asking for the animal control officer, Phyllis Tower. O’Neil asked Tower if it was safe to move the dog, and she said it was. So he picked up Gizmo and began to carry him back toward the road.
Tower immediately called Cregar with the news that Gizmo had been found. Cregar in turn called a neighbor, Libby Levison, and both women went to meet O’Neil on the woods trail. Cregar carried Gizmo the rest of the way to the road and then drove him to the Westford Veterinary Emergency Center.
The staff at the Westford center said Gizmo was dehydrated but stable, although he couldn’t see or walk. He stayed at the center for two nights and then went home with the Lees on Saturday, Feb. 7. He had lost almost half his body weight, but his eyesight has come back, Holly Lee said. And every day he is able to hop a few more steps. “It’s a miracle,” she said. And she is grateful for all the people who helped search for Gizmo: “I felt the outreach of the community.”