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Culver City News
July 30, 2009 Animal Services Officer Saves the Day Recently Culver City’s new Animal Services Officer (ASO), Stephanie Yarbro, was called to help local residents find their wayward pooches. In both cases the dogs were being cared for by family friends while their owners were away on vacation. Vice President of the Friends of Culver City Dog Park, Peter Vogel, and his wife Marci had left their dog Chado with a friend while they were away on vacation. Chado became frightened when the gardener came into the yard and ran out before the gate could be closed. Their friend gave chase but Chado got away. Peter and Marci got a frantic phone call, and Peter immediately contacted the new ASO through the Culver City Police Department dispatch at 310-837-1221. Officer Yarbro and her supervisor, Sergeant Webb, were on-scene within minutes and picked up the chase. Chado had traveled half a mile by the time they spotted him. They both jumped out of the ASO truck and continued on foot. Just as the officers were closing in, Chado made a run for it into Blanco Park. They chased him around the park until he finally pooped out. Peter and Marci were extremely grateful from afar when they got the good news that Chado was safely returned. "We were worried to death thinking that Chado may be hit by a car," Peter said. "Marci and I couldn't wait to express our gratitude to Officer Yarbro in person for saving Chado." In a second case, the Animal Services Officer was called when a local resident working at a storefront on Sepulveda spotted a brown dog without a collar or leash walking along the boulevard on the east side. The resident was on the west side of the street and could not easily cross to get the dog. She knew she needed help and remembered that Culver City now has an Animal Services Officer. So she called the Culver City Police dispatch at 310-837-1221 and within minutes Sgt. Webb and Officer Yarbro arrived. They took additional information about the dog's appearance and location, and left to find the dog. Meanwhile, two middle school girls stopped at the Sepulveda store and frantically asked "Have you seen a brown dog?" The resident said "Yes and he was headed that way!" The girls said "It's Bailey, and he got loose!" The family of one of the girls had been dog sitting while Bailey's family was out of town. Although Bailey had jumped the fence before, this time he wasn't wearing his collar because he'd been scratching at it the night before. The two girls had to get back to the house to watch a younger brother and his friend while the girl's mother was driving around looking for Bailey too. So Sgt. Webb and Yarbro in the ASO truck and the girl's mom in her car drove around looking for the missing brown dog. After nearly an hour Bailey was found. He was walking south on Huntley Avenue with a nice lady who noticed the missing collar and was trying to lure him to her home to help rescue him. The wayward Bailey was returned safely to the home of the dogsitting family. Everyone was thankful and appreciative, even Bailey. Culver City residents have ASO Yarbro to call when they lose or find an escape artist like Chado or Bailey. The ASO position is a pilot program established by the city council in June 2008, and Yarbro was hired in July, 2009. According to the city, many residents' dogs are currently unlicensed although both state and city laws require owners to license their dogs so that the City can assist people whose pets are missing or need assistance and ensure that they are properly vaccinated. Pet license fees are used to support the city's expenditures for animal services and Officer Yarbro will be working with residents to increase the number of pets registered in Culver City. For more information on how and where to obtain a Culver City pet license, visit the Culver City Website. |
