18/10/2025
As promised, below is Sunny's story! ❤️🐾
For Norm, a 93- year old West Hills gentleman, losing his best friend, a 7-year old yellow lab named Sunny, was devastating. Norm had adopted Sunny from a local shelter after her previous owner passed away and for the last 4 years, Sunny was a constant companion for him.
On October 4th, Sunny did something completely out of the ordinary. Not wanting to be left behind when Norm left for the store on his scooter, Sunny apparently scaled a wall in their backyard after Norm left and attempted to follow him. When Norm arrived back home, the house was quiet. Sunny wasn't there barking for him and she wasn't there to greet him.
His heart sank not knowing where she could have gone and how he was going to find her. His friend Sheryl knew just who to call. She called us and our DDSAR crew went out to get posters up immediately. Norm also took to the streets and handed out flyers on his scooter.
We had only one potential sighting of Sunny from the day she went missing, walking away with her head down on a street along the route Norm had taken. After that, there was nothing. Days went by. Where could Sunny be? We reached out to a few news agencies to share the story, and first one, then another ran a segment requesting the public to keep an eye out for Norm's beloved dog. We hoped someone found her and just hadn't checked for a chip yet, but as the story was shared and repeated on social media and to the community with zero responses, thoughts of someone having Sunny began to fade. She was no where to be found.
Then, one week later, Denise, a homeowner near the Chatsworth Reservoir spotted Sunny walking up one of the roads in the preserve. She remembered seeing one of our posters on her street and called us immediately. If Sunny was in the preserve, it would explain why we were not getting any sightings from the community so we went out right away to try and verify the information.
The preserve's large chain link gate was usually closed, but it just so happened a crew from LADWP was there working and we were actually able to get in for a limited time to search. There were 1300 acres of open space behind those gates and we only had access for a brief time. Unfortunately, we couldn't locate Sunny before the gates were again shut and we were locked out.
We were unsure how many exit routes there were in the preserve and our team located several holes under the fencing, that coyotes were clearly using. This was a HIGH coyote presence area, as we would learn more about real soon.
We left cameras near a few of the coyote dug holes we found along the fence line, hoping to get a glimpse of her to confirm she was still in there. During the night, we were thrilled to see Sunny appear briefly on our camera! She truly was inside the preserve!
Sunny didn't attempt to exit through the hole where coyotes had dug under the fence, but sniffed at the pair of Norm's socks we purposefully left there in an effort to provide a familiar scent that might lure her. She was still in the preserve and we had to help her.
The reservoir is private property. Gates were locked with barbwire across the top of fencing. We tried for days to get access to the preserve. Everyone passed the buck onto someone else. We were beyond frustrated. We tried other options while we waited. They were short term. No one would give us free rein to do what we needed to do to find her or set up traps in her path.
During this time of trying to secure access, we had Norm come out and call to Sunny briefly and then sat him right at the fence to see if he could possibly lure her out, but she didn't come. She was just too scared or too far away to hear him. We knew after a week with no food and with all the coyotes, this sweet girl was on borrowed time.
As more days continued to pass, we knew Sunny was inside, but she only appeared on camera at night, briefly, and not during the rain storms. During the day we scoured all sides of the preserve from afar, but we had no other day time sightings of her anywhere. She had found a hiding spot and it must have been a good one. We also had set traps outside the fencing and near gates, just in case, but she would not come out of the fence or close enough to the traps.
To add a little perspective here, the area Sunny was in was very dangerous. We couldn't release her location to everyone for fear she might be chased out. We also knew the coyotes could and would be an issue. They did seem to leave Sunny alone, but they were very aware we had traps set nearby and our team spent 8-12+ hours out there nightly/daily, making sure the coyotes stayed at bay and away from them. We also had 3 cameras going 24/7 on the fenceline and trap area. None of us slept good for a week.
So we persisted. We desperately kept trying to find the help we needed to access the preserve. We needed to place traps farther inside, away from the fence line and gates to get her.
Thankfully, after endless calls and emails to many agencies, we FINALLY found the right person. John Luker, with Sky Valley Volunteers, was the man who made it all happen and within hours of speaking with him, we had access to go in and set multiple traps.
When we first emailed, John responded that there was no way there was a domestic dog living in the preserve with all the coyotes! We showed him video proof and his heart broke. He then said, "What time do you want to meet?" A short time later that day, traps were set inside and near her walking area and the waiting began!
We didn't have to wait long, though. As the sun set and the night crept in, Sunny appeared on one of our trap cameras.
Coyotes howled nearby and our hearts were racing as we all held our breath. Sunny circled the trap, taking in every smell of her owner's clothes and obviously wanting to get to the food inside that her body so desperately needed. Finally, on Oct 16th, almost thirteen days after she went missing, Sunny walked into our trap and she was safe! We all let out shrieks of delight and sighs of relief.
We were ecstatic we were going to be able to take Sunny home to Norm.
John could hardly believe it when he got the early evening call that Sunny was caught and we needed access to extract her. He was overjoyed and a bit in shock. It almost seemed too easy! Oh, if he only knew how many long, excruciating nights our team spent into the wee hours of the morning in the nearby parking lot, forgoing sleep watching for her, hoping she would exit a coyote hole and enter the traps we had placed in the only locations we could.
It seemed like the longest journey of our lives as we drove in and made our way to get to Sunny. We've never seen a dog so ready for her adventure to be over. She laid there, falling asleep knowing she was safe from all the coyotes, safe from the rain and elements.
We retrieved all the equipment and John escorted us out. Sunny had no idea who we were and we spoke gently to her, trying to assure her she was going to be just fine. Her eyes told us she was worried, but she was being very calm and waiting to see what we had planned for her. Once we got her safely inside, Sunny happily ran out of the trap and right to Norm. Her tail was wagging and she literally had the biggest smile on her face. We don't think there was a dry eye in the room as Norm lovingly scratched her head.
Norm told us that she was family, and just like a daughter to him. The smile on both their faces showed just how much they love each other.
Sunny has a few cuts and scrapes, but she will be okay. JJ Nielson, a rescue partner who runs her own dog rescue and helps reunite pets online, came over to inspect and helped clean up Sunny's wounds to get her through the night.
Sunny was tired, she laid at Norm's feet as we picked off fleas and checked her over. Norm was surprised and said, "The old Sunny, she would have never let you all do this!". She did truly seem grateful though, coming up to each of us to give a kiss and showing us her appreciation with the best smile ever!
We temporarily fixed the spot where Sunny jumped the fence before we went home, but it will need a more permanent solution. We would love to see if we could get some volunteers to come out and do some major clean up of Norm's overgrown yard and make some necessary modifications to prevent this from happening at any point in the future.
We want to thank our entire team for their time and dedication to rescue Sunny. We also want to give a big thank you to Denise, who spotted Sunny in the preserve and made the most important call of this rescue to us about her. She also opened up her home to us and allowed us whatever access we needed. Without her, Sunny could still be out there.
A huge thanks to the fire department for coming out a few times to try to give us limited access and promising to come back out if we caught her, a big thanks to NBC and KTLA news for spreading the word to the community, to JJ Neilson for running out to be eyes in the reservoir area, when our team couldn't be there, a thanks to Ivan with DWP for his assistance and the terrific security guards who gave us 24/7 access to the parking lot that bordered the fence of the preserve for as long as it took to rescue Sunny. Of course a big thanks to the kind and humble hero, John Luker, with Sky Valley Volunteers.
You all helped us save Sunny's life and we, Norm, and the entire community who prayed for a happy ending for her, thank you from the bottom of our collective hearts.
Welcome Home Sunny!
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