Mu searched for a little dog in Mill Creek, named Kobe. I advised that we were unlikely to find the dog, but we were asked to try anyway. The four pound dog had disappeared at 5:15 in the morning, when the owner let him out for just a minute and went back in to get a cup of coffee. A camera across the street shows two dogs walking away from the house, but only one dog coming back a minute later. Mu found coyote scat in the yard of the missing dog, but no evidence of the attack. At four pounds, I wouldn’t expect much evidence to be left, if there had been an attack. This house is near a power line corridor, and Mu and I found coyote scat when we searched for a lost cat 18 months earlier. At the time, the coyote scat showed the coyote had eaten one white cat and one grey cat. Our search on this day revealed coyote scat with the fur of a white cat, but we didn’t find any sign of the lost little dog. It was raining lightly. Mu seemed anxious to leave after we had been working a couple of hours, I don’t know why. We found a lot of evidence of coyote activity, including the remains of lots of rabbits. I wouldn’t think that would bother Mu. There may have been yellow jackets around, but I didn’t see any.
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Mu searched for an orange cat named Oliver. This cat was feral, caught about a mile away from the foster’s house. He escaped when the bottom fell out of the defective crate he was in. The foster has lots of experience with feral cats, and she had several traps and at least 6 cameras. Mu and I searched the power line corridor behind her house, which would be a likely place to find evidence of a predator attack. We didn’t find any sign of Oliver other than some orange fur left on a branch in the neighbor’s yard. It appears likely Oliver has moved out of that area, possibly trying to make his way back to his “home territory”. Our search was hampered by not getting permission to search some of the homes nearby.
Mu and I were supposed to go search for a lost cat in Monroe when we got a call about a stray dog in Ravensdale. Animal Control had been trying to catch a dog by the river, with no luck. The officer had heard about our success with difficult-to-catch dogs, and asked for assistance. This dog was down a steep embankment by the Cedar River, and the officer was concerned about him getting spooked into the river and being washed away.
When we got there, I brought Fozzie out as a possible magnet dog. The stray dog was half a mile up the walking trail, so it took us a bit to get to the dog. I met the ACO officer on the trail and she showed me the dog sitting on a large boulder just at the edge of the river. I told her I would use Calming Signals and the Magnet Dog to start, and see how that went. My objective was to avoid making him run, above all else. I let Fozzie go down the steep embankment on the long leash, to see if the dog would be interested. I threw chunks of hotdog down there. He was interested and he tried to get some of the pieces before Fozzie could find them. I went down the slope to the river, and I sat on a log feeding bits of hotdog to Fozzie. The dog came down off his boulder and sniffed Fozzie. I was able to get a clear, closeup picture of the dog, which I posted on Facebook, to try to find an owner. The dog wasn’t relaxed enough for me to put on the slip lead, so Fozzie and I walked back to the car to get a trap. Dina and Jennifer came out to help, too. We tried the trap for a couple of hours, luring him to it with Fozzie and with treats, but he wouldn’t go in. After several hours, we received a tip from the Facebook post, that the owners had lost this dog this morning. His name was Dexter and he lived nearby. His owners were on their way. While we waited for the owners to arrive (they lived close but happened to be away from home when they saw the Facebook post) a few people saw us with the dog nearby. They offered to help. “Do you want me to go get him for you?” I felt like saying, “Oh, I never thought of simply walking over to the dog and picking him up. What a great idea.” I didn’t bother to explain about the behavior of dogs on the run, or Magnet Dogs, Humane Traps, Calming Signals, and Snappy Snares. I just said, “Thank you, but the owner is on the way and should be here soon.” When the owners arrived, they were calling for Dexter. We got them to stop calling, and we explained about Calming Signals. They sat beside the trail, near where Dexter was down by the river. They talked to each other and didn’t look at him. After about ten minutes, Dexter came up the embankment and checked them out. Once he realized this was him family, he ran to them and threw himself onto them. He was extremely happy, as was the family. Mu and I went to search for Blue in Bothell. Blue was 14 years old, indoor all his life, never outside before. They installed a new air conditioner in the window, and a small gap remained, which they didn’t think Blue would get out of. They were wrong. We got there after he had been missing for a week. I thought we had an excellent chance of finding him alive.
As we started the search, Mu paid close attention to one particular spot on the lawn. This can sometimes be an indicator of a predator attack. I examined the area closely and couldn’t find any detectable evidence. I invited Blue’s owner to come with us on the search, but he had a house full of children and stayed inside with them. Where we went into the woods, at the edge of a deep ravine, Mu took notice of something I hadn’t seen. He had found grass that a cat had thrown up, a good sign that Blue had been this way. A little farther on, he found more vomited grass. Some rustic trails helped us get through the woods in places, but in other areas, we had to crash through the brush. The hillside was very steep, also, and difficult to navigate. Trying to cover the grid of the most likely hiding places, we worked around to the nearby horse farm. This had hundreds of hiding places in derelict buildings and abandoned trucks and RVs. One building, and old barn, was completely engulfed in blackberry vines, so we couldn’t gain access to search it, but a cat could. Around near the top side of the property, we searched around a home under construction. It was about 64 degrees, not hot, but at the upper end of Mu’s working range, before he starts panting too much to search properly. The house under construction had a freshly poured concrete pad, set but unblemished by use, and Mu sprawled out on the white concrete to draw heat out of his belly, into the slab. We searched a large area of woods, fields, old buildings and defunct vehicles. I looked at the GPS record of where we had been, looking for any gaps. There was an area northeast of the house that we had gone around, leaving a large space unchecked. As we went back to cover that area of woods, Mu’s nose went up, and I knew we were close to a cat. I thought we were going to find Blue, alive and well. When Mu tracked down the source, it was a small amount of remains. Mu went and sat nearby. He knew his work was done. He might have been sad, but not obviously so. I told him he did a good job. Even though I was sad about the outcome, I wanted to be sure to let Mu know that he did a good job, and I appreciated him. We searched more than six acres of woods, junk vehicles, and collapsing structures, and Mu found a bit of evidence, no bigger than a baseball, amid leaf litter and fallen branches. No human ever would have found this evidence with a visual search. The remains Mu found consisted of the lower jaw bone and most of the skull. The teeth were in the pattern, size, number, and shape of a cat, not a possum or dog or fox. The teeth had plaque, and a couple were missing, consistent with a 14 year old cat. On the underside of the jaw was a small amount of white fur, consistent with the pictures of Blue. While it is possible that an older cat with white fur on his chin, some cat other than Blue, just happened to be taken by a coyote 150 feet northeast of Blue’s house, during the one week period Blue went missing, and Blue was alive and well somewhere, the most probable explanation for the evidence was that a coyote had taken Blue. Blue’s family kept him safe indoors for 14 years, but because of one error in judgement, they last him to a coyote before we could find him. Blue’s family was very upset, of course. I made sure to pay extra attention to Mu on the drive home, to let him know that I appreciated his good work, even though it was an unfortunate ending. I still don’t know the best answer to the question of whether a cat’s family would want to know that their cat was dead. I have had some people seem to be in denial when I told them their cat was most likely dead, as if I was being intentionally cruel. Blue’s family seemed to appreciate knowing, so at least they wouldn’t have to spend every day searching and hoping in vain. I think I would rather know than not know. I heard about Jessie running loose in Burien. Again I took Tino with me, just to get him out of the house, even though Fozzie probably would have been a better magnet dog. We got to the location after dark, and it was only about five minutes before I saw Jessie. I met the foster, who said Jessie had been running on 128th, and 4th Ave S, and the freeway off ramp. When I saw Jessie, I got Tino out to see if Jessie would be interested. Jessie did seem interested in him, but a little too nervous to approach. She ran off again. While she was away, I took advantage of the opportunity to set a trap in the vacant lot, using hotdogs.
I drove around and looked for Jessie again, while I had the foster stay at 4th and 126th in case she came back. I followed Jessie, who came back to the trap, then south to 128th, then to the freeway ramp again, then back to the trap again. I saw her almost get hit a couple of times. Judy showed up with her dog Roo. Her fiance was also there, in a separate car. I had them set up at 4th and 128th, to watch for Jessie, with the foster at 4th and 126th, while I parked in the middle of the block, across the street from the trap location. When Jessie started to go black to 128th, I texted to Judy to get out of her car and block the road to keep Jessie out of traffic. Jessie then went up north to the foster, and then back to the trap. When Jessie came back to 128th, I had Judy bring Roo out. Jessie showed some interest in Roo. I coached Judy on calming signals, having her turn her body to the side, avoid eye contact and sit on the ground instead of squatting. Judy followed my instructions very well, and Jessie came closer and closer to Rue. Then a guy on a bike, probably a homeless person, came up behind Jessie, and Jessie bolted, even with Judy and her fiancé trying to block her. She disappeared for a bit. The foster had purchased some tripe, and I added that to the trap. Tripe really stinks, and is good for attracting dogs. Then I went to the store so I could get batteries for the wildlife camera, so I could watch the trap from a distance without getting to close. I drove to the store by getting on the freeway, going north to the next exit, and then turning around and heading south, to look for Jessie. I passed some debris that looked a little like it could be the body of a dog about Jessie’s size. I was pretty sure it was just garbage, but at 60 MPH it’s hard to get a good look, and I kept having this irrational worry that it was Jessie. When I got to the store, I received a message that Jessie had come back to the area of the trap. When I returned to the area, we tried again with calming signals with Roo and Judy, which was working okay. Then Jessie went back to the area of the trap and I didn’t see her for a bit. I moved around to where I could shine my flashlight on the trap, and Jessie was in it, happily eating tripe. We loaded up the trap and took it to the foster’s house, a block to the west. Once inside the house, Jessie didn’t want to come out of the trap at first. We were able to ease her out and get a harness and a collar on her. She was letting us pet her, and she seemed to like the big dog, Tank, just fine. We probably could have gotten Jessie with Calming Signals eventually, but a trap is often a less stressful, faster method. Every moment we didn’t catch Jessie was another chance for her to get hit by a car. Using both strategies, trap and calming signals, gave us the best chance to catch her fast. When I first heard about this dog on Facebook, I couldn’t get there right away. It took me several hours to get over there. She was hanging out near a barber shop near two of the busiest streets in Bellevue, Main Street and Bellevue Way. When we got there, I saw her right away. She didn’t have a collar. She looked like a wolf chihuahua hybrid. I had brought Tino with me, not necessarily because I thought he would be a good magnet dog in this case, but just to get him out of the house and take him on an adventure. I set the trap, and baited it with hotdogs. I picked up some cat food that people had been feeding her. She didn’t seem hungry, but she did nibble a couple of small pieces of hotdog. I sat down about eight feet away from the trap. She came over to me and walked right under my legs. She let me pet her, but I didn’t try to grab her and pick her up.
A woman came out of the barber shop. I believe her name was Lydia. She had seen this dog often. Lydia lived in her car, parked behind the barber shop, so that she would have more flexibility to go trail running in the mountains. Because she was in the parking lot all the time, she had gotten to know this dog. Because the little dog wasn’t too hungry, I wanted to catch her with Calming Signals. The trouble with that is that she decided to flop down on the asphalt near us and take a nap. We let her sleep. I talked to Lydia for a bit, and then I gave her the slip lead and told her about Calming Signals. I decided to go to my car and watch from a distance and let Lydia catch the dog with Calming Signals, since she knew her better. After about 20 minutes, the little dog was coming up to Lydia and letting her pet her, and Lydia calmly and quietly slipped the slip lead on. Once secured, the little dog did not panic at all. In fact, she decided to take a nap on Lydia’s lap. I gave Lydia my chip scanner and let her scan the dog. She did have a chip, and her name was Tina. Eventually, with a little help, I was able to contact the owner, who was on her way home. She would come get Tina fairly soon. We learned that Tina was allowed to roam the area, and she was crossing Main Street every day. She had been a street dog previously, and was adopted from the Human Society in Bellevue. When the owner arrived, Tina was not especially glad to see her. Tina stayed on Lydia’s lap, looking a little sad, like she didn’t want to leave her new friend. Our goal is to reunite dogs with their families. It’s a little sad when the dog’s family doesn’t take proper care of a dog. The next day, I read on Facebook that Tina was out again, and had been picked up by Animal Control. Hopefully, someone will step up to take proper care of Tina, before she gets run over. Viktor found a kitty today! He was sniffing around the side of the road, homing in on something. Suddenly the neighbors’ cat Popped out of a fern and ran across the street. Viktor chased for a short distance, still on a leash. I stopped him at the edge of the neighbor’s property. He was very excited.
Mu searched for a cat in Sammamish. He did not find any signs of an attack, but he did sniff a couple of spots where a cat had been hiding recently. I have a feeling they will find the cat soon.
Mu searched for a lost black cat at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds in Monroe. The fair had wrapped up a week earlier and the grounds were mostly empty. Mu worked well and showed interest near the Cat Barn, up high in an adjacent barn. We had finished two thirds of the planned search area when the cars started up at the racetrack. It was really loud, and it upset Mu. He couldn’t concentrate on finding cats. He just wanted to get away from the noise. We had to stop the search early.
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James Branson
Principal at Three Retrievers Lost Pet Rescue, volunteer at Useless Bay Sanctuary, author of A Voice for the Lost Archives
December 2019
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