Sweet Honey had just been adopted from the shelter and was in the process of being brought into her home by her new family when she got scared and bolted down Thousand Oaks Blvd! We were tagged and immediately Chris rushed out to search for her. She felt in her gut that she was in this certain parking lot so she scoured the area high and low till she saw a tail sticking out from under one of the cars. Honey was terrified and trying to hide in a ball. She waited a couple minutes till JoAnn and Casey arrived on scene and instructed the owners to try and block the exit. With some coaxing and a loop leash they were able to get her safely!! She was still very scared and looked as if she might try to bolt again but they were able to calm her down. A few kisses later and Honey was back off to her new home!
This sweet pup was seen stuck in a wash behind homes in Camarillo. A neighbor had been feeding her for a month morning and night so we set a trap for her this evening and within minutes BOOM we caught her!!! She endured the harsh winter rains, cold nights and already many hot summer days. Thanks to her license tag and Ventura County Animal Services we contacted her owner and they came for her right away! She had only traveled less than half a mile from where she went missing.
Mom was successfully trapped and reunited with her day old babies that still had umbilical cords attached.
Red is Safe!! Our team got a call about a little red chi/doxi running in the streets of Simi Valley, CA Friday night (thank you Nanci)! Our team went out to search right away, but she had disappeared into a heavily brush filled wash area by the time we got there. We spoke with multiple neighbors who had nick named her Red, who told us they had seen her running around in traffic for at least 4-5 days. We immediately set the trap on Friday night and staked it out for several hours but she stayed away, and much to our disappointment, she didn't reappear at all yesterday. Fearing the worst as this is a heavily populated coyote area our team set out again to search for her this am. Within a few hours she reappeared, in full run as usual. Relieved to see her our team scouted out the area, a field in which she had been running through and we found her laying down hiding in the shade under a tree. They quickly set a trap up nearby, while she watched every move they made from afar. She decided not to go to the trap right away and stayed away for a bit while resting from the heat. Then as we waited, she suddenly got up and moved to another area laying even farther away from the trap. At this point we moved in one team member slowly, to gently force her to move towards the trap. After a little more running she landed herself right back in the trap area and then went in for the steak! Yay! She was safe! But she was not happy to be caught and growled at us for awhile anytime we put our hands close to the trap. We took her home to decompress because we know she is just stressed and scared. We are going to start searching for her owners now! She has no microchip, and appears to be on the younger side. She needs a bath asap and a good check for ticks and foxtails. She also has a cut on her head probably from hitting it on something in the wash like tree branches. Good job team for bringing this girl in and getting her safe!! If we don't find her owners she will be needing a forever home after her stray hold is up. ❤️
For those of you that have been following Sam's search and rescue, here are the amazing details that led to her safe capture this morning! The first sign of Sam was confirmed by Avalon residents to be in June when a herd of cattle appeared in the area back behind the Simi Valley Town Center Mall and the Avalon Apartments. We were contacted in December and actively started her search and rescue exactly 42 days ago today! Our team members worked this case everyday, two to three times daily till her safe capture today. The efforts included keeping a safe feeding station, setting traps, setting a kennel run trap, trying to barricade her and physically catch her in a ravine area, a sedative in her food, and many other of our standard search and rescue attempts, all of which she eluded! Although risky we had to make the decision to try a tranquilizer dart as a last ditch effort. We reached out to our friends at Ventura County Animal Services to enlist the help of their wonderful veterinarian who is legally licensed to tranquilize using a dart gun. Our team had to work rigorously to create an exact feeding schedule in the perfect spot in order to prepare for this darting attempt. Vcas Officer Randy and Dr Heather along side with our team were able to dart her as soon as she showed up to our feeding station this morning right on time. Sam was able to make it a ways up the hill after the dart hit which is why you see our team carrying her down in the blanket. The area she has been living in is treacherous and not kind. She was living amongst coyotes, mountain lions and even a huge feral pig. The rain storms were tough for her but she never wavered. She stood her ground and continued her routine daily in her area never letting anything get her down. She is skinny, her ribs show the difficult months she has endured. The collar she had on was tight and her age is estimated to be around a year and half. This tells us she was just a puppy when she first arrived out in the hills. We don't know much about her personality at this point as she is currently at Vcas under medical monitoring just to make sure she is doing well and will be released to our care tomorrow. We look forward to getting to know Sam more closely and giving her the comfort and love she has deserved all along. This also was a tough 42 days for our team members as well. Many of them managing feedings at sun up, being out in the elements rain or shine, all of our game camera equipment being stolen, avoiding coyotes and dealing with barbed wire and other dangerous obstacles. Even through all of these testing days it was never a thought in our mind to give up. We knew we would get her, there was no other option.
We are extremely proud of our team but of course all of the hard work that went into this rescue wasn't just by us! We had the help of so many wonderful people it means the world to us! We would like to thank from the bottom of our hearts the following angels that helped along the way: The entire Ventura County Animal Services team, the residents of the Avalon Apartments and their property management team, Our two wonderful experienced drone operators, Simi Valley Missing Pets, The Simi Valley Town Center Lowes, Every good samaritan that text or called with sighting info, all of Sam's Facebook supporters, Equipment donors and all those that helped in any way during this trying rescue. We appreciate each and every one of you!
Our Dog Days team works very closely with our local animal shelters. Our partners at the LA County Agoura Animal Care Shelter recently made us aware of a lady whose little dog went missing. It wasn't just any dog though, it was her granddaughters dog. Millies family had gone on vacation and left Millie with grandma. Unfortunately, Millie escaped and decided to go on an adventure of her own. Grandma was not on social media and needed help asap. She had reached out to the shelter but no one had found or turned in Millie.
Our team headed out to help Grandma by making and hanging lost posters and possibly setting a trap, hoping she was still nearby. It was late at night so they had to make do with supplies they had in the rescue van to get some posters up.
Shortly after signs started going up, they got a call that Millie had been sighted and had crossed Thousand Oaks Blvd (a super busy street). Unfortunately the sighter lost sight of her. The team searched the area but didn't see her. They decided to set a trap just in case. Trap was set and watched all night with our Arlo camera, but sadly she didn't return.
The next day we got some additional sightings but they were all from the previous day, just after she had escaped. Several people had almost lured her into their cars but others just beeped, annoyed with having to take a few extra seconds out of their day to slow down for her. Poor little Millie just kept running away scared.
Our team kept searching the area and then finally got another sighting call. Again Millie was running on Thousand Oaks Blvd. They went and set a trap again but she never came to it. They also set up a trail camera to try and determine where she was going so we could establish a pattern. Unfortunately she avoided that too.
Since there were very few sightings, we had to think out of the box and try and figure out in this large area, where she was going and hiding. There was a small open space area between the houses on Quail Run. We were in that area and all of a sudden Millie appeared! We froze but she ran away, fast! We then got a call of someone seeing her running nearby! Then we got a call that she was in someone's backyard! This was good news and the best case scenario, hopefully that yard would be secure so she could be trapped! However when we got there, she had a run into a pool equipment area and the yard had shorter fencing. She could still escape but she was scared and we blocked the exits to the pool equipment. Millie wasn't very willing to come to us and was so scared that she tried to nip us. In order to get her safe, because she kept eyeballing the short fence, we had to use some old fashioned dog catcher tools, a catchpole and a net! But once we had her secured in those, we wrapped her up like a baby! She calmed down and we took her over to the Agoura Shelter for safe keeping until her family got back from vacation!
This little tiny girl survived for 2 nights in an area where there are busy streets, lots of coyotes and a mountain lion that has been seen recently. She is one lucky girl! Welcome home Millie! ❤️🐶 Great job team!
When Fireworks went off unexpectedly in Mary's neighborhood she got so scared she took off running and didn't come back! This 8 year old sweet girl was on the run for 5 days because of fireworks! She ran across streets, brushy hillsides, dodging cars and even coyotes in Moorpark, CA.
Our team rushed out to search and help her owners who were frantically searching. With flyers up, sightings started to come in. She was spotted and the team went out quickly but she was gone by the time they got there. Unfortunately prior to that, she had gotten chased out of the area by others trying to help. Mary was scared and frantic. She kept out of sight most days and our team and her owners spoke to everyone they could, leaving their number. They hung amazing posters and searched for her up hills, in orchards and on the street.
Mary had moved location and soon another sighting call came in! She was seen up a hill at some horse stables on Sunday and everyone rushed over to help. But once again, she saw people and ran away down a hill before our team could get there.
Mary was making her way through brush and hard to climb areas now, but at least she was off the road. Our team set a trap in an area we hoped she would come back to but after hours there was no sign of her. Everyone continued to search until late in the night, including her owners. They finally all called it a night.
Monday am, 5 days after she went missing a call came in that Mary was hanging out a nursery. The workers had seen her and called to tell us she was there. Karin rushed out to the location and called her owner Steven to get there fast! A few of our other team members were also in route. Karin found Mary laying under a tree for shade. She kept an eye on her in case she tried to run, although she seemed tired and possibly injured. Steven arrived shortly after, was briefed on where she was and how to approach her by Karin and our team. Approach slow, down low, food, water and leash in hand. He did exactly that and when Mary saw him she came right over to him! With her tail wagging a hundred miles an hour, she was happy and relieved, as was he! Pretty sure a few people cried!
An 8 year old senior, Mary had been through a lot. She had some external injuries and puncture wounds, was covered in hundreds of ticks (yes 400 to be exact), and was exhausted. She didn't even want to walk to the car so her owner carried her of course! Straight to the vet to be examined and with some meds, she went home to have her ticks removed. Hours and hours later, she finally got to lay her head down for a nap, relieved to be home with her family! We are so happy she is safe! Welcome home Mary! Great job team!