Montrose team's stitch in time saves canine

Search-and-rescue crew rescues former mayor's dog stuck on ledge in Brand Park.

Montrose Search and Rescue Team member Lyle Koegler holds on to Higgins as they hiked out of the canyon Monday night in Brand Park.

The dog, which belongs to former Glendale mayor Sheldon Baker and his wife Marilyn, began his adventure Saturday morning.

Marilyn Baker said Higgins escaped through an open door and didn't return. The Bakers searched the area, and Sheldon eventually heard what he believed to be the dog in the hills of nearby Brand Park.

Despite the barking, neither the Bakers nor Brand Park rangers could determine exactly where the dog was.

"Up in the hills, you can't tell what direction a sound is coming from," Marilyn Baker said.

The barking faded, and by Monday night Sheldon Baker said he had almost given up hope.

One last time he walked up into the hills, and to his surprise the barking resumed.

About 9 p.m., Sheldon called Mike Leum of Montrose Search and Rescue. Leum was at the Tam O' Shanter Inn with his wife celebrating their anniversary, but nevertheless offered to put together a team and head into the hills.

Leum and eight team members eventually located Higgins below a plateau halfway up the mountain. He suspected the dog had slipped and come to rest on the narrow ledge, unable to go up or down.

Leum said being stuck on the ledge was probably the only thing that kept the dog from being eaten by a bobcat or coyote.

Montrose Search and Rescue Team members involved in the rescue operation (from left) John Camphouse, Jay Paneno, John Levin, John Baker, who assisted in the search for his father's dog, former Glendale mayor Sheldon Baker holding his dog Higgins, Mike Leum, Janet Henderson, Fred Koegler and Lyle Koegler.

"Where he was at was not fit for man nor beast," Leum said. "The inaccessibility is what saved his life."

Using night vision goggles to see, team members were able to rappel down to Higgins and carry him to safety. The dog was hungry, but otherwise unharmed.

Sheldon Baker said he didn't expect the team to respond at all, let alone so quickly and successfully.

"I never thought they'd do it," he said. "But there was no hesitation, they just said 'this is what we do.' "

Leum said the rescue team responds to around a half-dozen animal rescues each year, often dogs that have wandered off.

"With our skills and expertise, it's the same to rappel to a person or to a dog," he said.

The Bakers, elated to have Higgins back, had nothing but praise for the rescue team.

"They are so professional and so good," Sheldon Baker said.

Copyright 2002, Los Angeles Times