At Logan, a wet but happy canine landing
His owners are still sifting through the clues, trying to figure out how Brewster, a 3-year-old border collie with a passion for Frisbee and a taste for adventure, got to the airport after escaping his Winthrop home one hot morning last month.
Maybe he wanted a vacation, or thought the planes were giant flying toys, or just wanted to find a way to get there without paying any tolls. Whatever his motive, Brewster was a little wet and very tired by the time Massachusetts Port Authority personnel spotted him passing through Logan International's south gate, a vehicle route to the airfield that's closer to the Boston Inner Harbor.
Did Brewster swim from his home on Winthrop's east side? Possibly. It is also possible he could have gone for a stroll -- a very long stroll -- through East Boston. Or maybe even through Revere.
"I wish he could speak," said Julie Knowlton, Brewster's owner, who said she was frantic after her pet disappeared on July 9 until she received "the best message in the whole entire world." Massport officials had her dog.
"My first reaction was unbelievable excitement and joy because he is alive and found and this man sounded so nice," Knowlton said. "Then my second thought is, 'How in the world did he get there?' "
The shortest route to Logan is across the harbor from Winthrop's Court Road area, which is about 1,000 feet from one of the runways, said John Vitagliano, a Winthrop resident and former Massport board member. He estimated that Point Shirley, the area where Brewster lives, is at least double that distance.
Brewster is a celebrity on Yirrell Beach, known for his smarts, athleticism, and obsession with Frisbees. Knowlton said that usually when she and her family -- husband Scott, 5 1/2-year-old son Aedan, and 16-month-old daughter Neve -- aren't at home, Brewster stays in the fenced-in backyard. But not on July 9.
The first Brewster sighting of the day came at around 10:15 a.m., when a neighbor spotted the dog running by himself and she couldn't get to him. She called Knowlton at her job in Beverly.
Suspect number one: The weather.
"There must've been a thunderstorm and he's afraid of thunder. He dug the sand and got through the fence," Knowlton said. "It's unusual for him to do it."
Knowlton immediately called another neighbor, Paul Connolly, whose 10-year-old Newfoundland, Cody, is a buddy of Brewster's, to see if he could grab her pet.
"That particular day it was raining, so she was concerned and I went looking for him and couldn't find him," Connolly said. "Then I heard that he joined the L Street Brownies, swam the harbor, and went to the airport. Nothing about Brewster surprises me. He's just a hoot. He's a wonderful dog. If you told me he swam to Antarctica, I'd believe it. I'd just think someone threw the Frisbee too hard."
When Connolly called with no sign of Brewster, Knowlton became nervous, called her husband and went to a known hangout for her dog: the beach.
Suspect number two: a flying disc.
"I was yelling, 'Brewster! Brewster!' but no answer," Knowlton said. "If someone's playing Frisbee, that's going to attract him."
She called Winthrop's dog officer and Aedan's day care, in case Brewster showed up there. By noon, Knowlton was driving all over town. A police officer at the Winthrop Yacht Club told her he'd seen a border collie a half-hour earlier, but he was too fast to be caught. Scott joined the search at about 12:30 p.m., and he and Knowlton began driving in their cars and stopping everyone they saw.
"I was frantic," Knowlton said. "I called my mom and I started crying."
Then she checked her voice mail. Bob Lynch, an airport operations manager, said he believed he had their dog.
"We don't know how he got here," said Phil Orlandella, Logan's director of media relations. "He crossed our gates, so he could've come from East Boston."
Brewster may have even given himself an unauthorized tour of at least one runway, and if so, was fortunate to have avoided the vacuum of a jet engine, Orlandella said. Jeanette Robinson, airport shift manager, and Chris Chandler, a member of Massport's Fire Rescue, first saw Brewster passing through the south gate, and with the help of Massport police officer Paul Coronite chased him for a half-mile before cornering him, Orlandella said.
"The dog was wet and frightened and went to them easily," Orlandella said. "They took him to the fire station, played with him, Lynch noticed the tag and called the owners."
The Knowltons sent the employees an elaborate fruit basket in appreciation.
In his 27 years at Logan, Orlandella said, he's seen dogs, cats, a fox, coyotes, all kinds of birds, and even two zoo-bound monkeys on the loose. "We don't always know how they get on the airfield."
Knowlton told Lynch she loved him, drove to the airport and cried at the sight of Brewster, who got in the car and slept all the way home, exhausted from his adventure. Whatever it was.
Katheleen Conti can be reached at kconti@globe.com. 