Montrose Search and Rescue – Rescuing the Mayor’s Dog – and Monday Night, Meet the Team!

The Montrose Search and Rescue team saves hundreds of lives, but their efforts are not “species-specific.” Besides humans, the team also rescues dogs that have, like their human counterparts, been outmatched by nature. The team averages about a half-dozen dog rescues each year.

Such was the case in November 2002. Former Glendale Mayor Sheldon Baker lives on the edge of Brand Park with his wife and two small house dogs. One Saturday morning, an accidently open back door provided an escape path for the two dogs that took off into the Verdugos above Brand Park for a little adventure. But only one dog came back that afternoon. The Bakers, along with friends, searched the hills in the direction the dogs had gone. Frustratingly they could hear the little dog barking off in the distance, but the sound bouncing off the canyon walls and the steep terrain kept them from homing in on the 13-month-old Sheltie. Darkness made them retreat from their search Saturday night. The Bakers agonized over the fate of their beloved pet, sure that coyotes would finish off the dog in the night.

They resumed the search Sunday morning and, amazingly, could once again hear the poor little lost dog barking in the distance. Another day of fruitless and frustrating searching turned up nothing, as once again the terrain made pinpointing the dog’s barking impossible. Yet another day and night passed.

On Monday evening, Baker hiked one last time into the hills, sure that his pet was dead by now. Incredibly, he could hear the dog barking weakly. In desperation Sheldon Baker called the cellphone of his old friend, Mike Leum of the Montrose Search and Rescue team, not for help, but for advice on what to do next. Mike was at Tam O’ Shanter Inn enjoying a 13th wedding anniversary dinner with his wife. Mike took the call from his good friend Baker, who had been his Scoutmaster when he was in Boy Scouts. Mike told Baker that, given the amount of time the dog had been missing, he would call out the team immediately. He further assured Baker that the team often does animal rescues. He left his incredibly understanding wife, and joined eight other team members at Baker’s house, where they embarked into the hills.

In a short time, the team, with their superior tracking skills and night-vision goggles spotted the dog trapped on a small ledge halfway down a sheer cliff. There was no way that anyone would be able to climb up the unstable hillside, so the team opted to rappel down from the top. After breaking through thick brush, they finally reached the weakened dog, and carried him back up to safety.

According to Mike Leum, the dog had probably fallen off the top of the ridge, and tumbled until it landed on the tiny outcropping. Ironically it was the inaccessibility of the spot the dog was stuck in that saved its life. The dog’s barking must have sounded like a dinner bell to every coyote and bobcat for miles around, but they couldn’t cross the sheer cliff-face to get to the trapped animal.

The tiny dog, 1½ pounds lighter from its ordeal and, hopefully, a little wiser, resumed its quiet life as a house dog in the home of the former mayor. And Sheldon Baker and family will always be indebted to our local heroes.

If you’ve been enjoying these stories of the Montrose Search and Rescue team, come out on Monday night and meet some of them in person. Current team member Steve Goldsworthy will tell some of his favorite rescue stories. Joining him will be the most senior team member, Dan Hensley, who has served for over 50 years. They will be the speakers at the regular meeting of the Historical Society of the Crescenta Valley, Monday, May 15 at 7 p.m. at the La Crescenta Center for Spiritual Living, located at the corner of Dunsmore and Santa Carlotta.

  mike lawler