Sunday Wrap-Up: Raven seen in Campbell, she may be traveling on the Los Gatos Creek Trail

Well, we rushed to the Campbell Farmer's Market this morning after receiving word that Raven had been sighted. We found the man who had seen her in front of Bistro Twist and spoke with him, and he was fairly certain that it was her and gave a physical description of the dog complete with collar so we feel reasonably certain that it was her. This was at about 7am during market setup and Raven was moving up East Campbell Ave heading west between 1st and 2nd streets. We split up, with Monica going down towards the creek and walking south, and myself and Veronica and her daughter Isabella walking the length of East Campbell Ave but without result. No one else we met had seen her, but we talked to many people and put up flyers.


Given that we have a sighting from last Sunday (10/4) afternoon at the Campbell Farmer's Market was breaking down; a sighting in Los Gatos on Monday 10/5, and then another sighting today 10/11 at the Campbell Farmer's Market again, it would appear that Raven is staying in the Los Gatos creek system between Los Gatos and Campbell. As our new friend who we have not yet met Kit Lofgren points out:

If she has been seen BOTH this week and last at the Campbell Farmer’s Market AND at Oak Meadow Park in Los Gatos in the time in between, it is highly likely that she is traveling along the bike path/trail between those two locations. There is also a dog park at the mid-point. This is VERY GOOD news because it indicates that she is staying off of the roadways. Additionally, the fencing along this corridor is designed to keep animals off of Highway 17. In short it is about the safest place she can be.

Where does this leave us? Though this is great news (that we have a sighting and a bounded area to search), it is still a giant area to search and we did not have any success today. We were confident enough to purchase a FindToto.com automated calling set for the Campbell area to commence tomorrow, and perhaps that will turn up more information. We will be back in the area looking for her. Elaine suggested that it is probably beyond Raven's abilities to know that "Sunday" means market day, and that she was sighted on East Campbell Ave may be less a function of market day than just that on Market days she is more likely to be sighted, and she may be touring these areas daily or almost daily in search of food and just not be being seen in the early morning hours most days. Her plan is to spend some time in the early morning hours on East Campbell and see if Raven sprints by. Myself, I have work to get done in the AM, but I will be out on the Los Gatos Creek Trail south of Campbell Park tomorrow afternoon doing more looking.

We've been in touch with our Pet Detective Jackie Philips, and are on her schedule to pick up with the tracking on Thursday, her next availability.

Interestingly, we got the call to check out the market about 11am. About 9:30 am we got the email response back from the Animal Communicator we had talked to the other evening, Suzi Dalling. Suzi had asked me to send her some concrete questions to ask Raven, so I (skeptical as I am) worked to comply with that. I had asked her to convey to Raven how concerned we are and that we are looking for her, and then a bunch of questions designed to try to narrow down where she might be. Suzi had sent back that she understood that Raven was staying in a place where there was always water (although roaming around looking for food from there), that the place was wooded, with a park a short distance to the east and that it was nearer to Campbell than Los Gatos. I'm not sure what to make of that, but it is at the very least an excellent guess and a coincidence. It is in accord with today's sighting.

As a final note, it continues to be amazing to me how different people react to our story and search. We were in the coffee shop at the Pruneyard Mall area (in between the creek trail and downtown Campbell) this afternoon and the young woman behind the counter was sympathetic to the point that she posted our flyer near the coffee lids so that customers would see it. This young woman was excited to show us pictures of her dog on her cell phone. Another man on a bicycle saw us putting up flyers on a bridge over the creek nearby the Pruneyard, and yelled out "graffiti!" as he road by. Clearly he saw us as nothing more than litterbugs. I suspect that this guy does not have a dog. When it is your family member who is missing, you will do anything to find her and get her back home again.

Regrouping: Tasks, Yahoo Groups & Animal Communicator

No new word of Raven. No confirmed sightings since Monday - five days ago. This is demoralizing and depressing, but as the odds of safe return go way down if we give up, we'll just have to live with this feeling and persevere.

We are fortunate to have the assistance of concerned and sympathetic friends and family

• Monica's mom came into town yesterday and helped search Los Gatos yesterday. Today she helped us by visiting the various shelters without luck.
  
• Mike Murray who we know through German Sheppard Rescue is looking into possible ways to obtain media exposure for this search
  
• Friends at Pet Food Express where Mike works have been putting up posters in their stores
• Randi Plotner of Bay Area Poodle Rescue is looking into communicating with their network of adoptee families to possibly help with the search and has been very helpful with searching and coordinating.
  
• Kit Lofgren and Mary Ann Frank, independently, are searching in the Los Gatos area
• Veronica Presedo-Floyd, also of Poodle Rescue, has opened her home to us while searching and has been very active in searching herself and in helping to coordinate things.
• and more - which I'm too tired to record now, but which are no less appreciated.
  

I (Mark) was able to devote about half the day to the search process. and spent some of it working on a list of things that we need to be doing in order to advance this search process along. These things include:

• inspecting the Animal Shelters frequently and in person
• posting "lost pet" notices on animal shelter websites where this is provided for
• Keeping the Craigslist posting current
  
• Placing ads in large and small area newspapers
• Educating various pet-related professional groups regarding Raven's loss
• Vets
• Groomers
• Doggie Daycare Facilities
• Pet Supply Stores
  
• postering area dog parks
• postering adjoining cities to Los Gatos
• Seeking media opportunities so as to broadcast word and awareness
• Attending pet-related events and handing out flyers
  

We are figuring, given the rate of travel we recorded, that we need to cover the entire south bay area, and that may not even be enough if someone picks her up and drives away with her (but if that occurs, it's a whole other ballgame anyway).

We've covered some of these tasks (Monica and I, Elaine and others above), but could use assistance with executing some of the rest of them. If anyone wants to help us find Raven by , now would be a good time to raise your hand (you can write me at mark@dombeck.com or call 510-325-6979)

We have established a Yahoo groups list to help coordinate communications regarding this search. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/find_raven/ Feel free to join/subscribe and/or pass this on to others who might be interested.

Finally, on the advice of some people we respect, we have begun the process of hiring Animal Communicators to see if they can give us any sort of lead regarding where/how to search for Raven. Animal Communicators are people who report being able to speak with animals at a distance, not in words, but in pictures and emotions and feelings. My wife and I are not familiar with this sort of thing and are skeptical, but at this point in time, we are quite willing to try it and see what happens. A consultation will occur tomorrow and we're supposed to have a report via email by the evening tomorrow, so more about that sometime tomorrow, I suppose.