That, in my experience, is a beginning that never has a good ending.
It turns out this event took place the day before the fire started, on Aug. 25, but I figured there would be a predictably sad outcome anyway.
Terri Kagawa, on investigating the disturbing sounds coming from her yard, found one of her two dogs had been bitten by a coyote. I interrupted Jon to ask if they were sure it was a coyote and not a mountain lion. He affirmed it was a coyote and continued his story.
They knew it was a coyote because their other pet dog could be seen literally in the jaws of the intruder and being carried out of their yard.
Uh-oh, I thought, wincing to myself.
Oh-no, Terri must have thought, as she saw their Malti-poo, Moki, disappear from view while she was tending to the wounds that had been inflicted on their pet that remained in the yard.
Not long after, Mark Detomasi of neighboring Tondolea Place contacted the Kagawas and asked if they were missing a dog.
“Yes. Did you find the collar?” Jon asked somberly, assuming the coyote had finished his meal and left Moki’s collar with ID tag attached somewhere near Detomasi’s home.
Yes, Detomasi had found the collar — but it was still attached to the dog.
It seems Detomasi was working in his home office and glanced out the window at precisely the right moment. He jumped into action when he saw the coyote in his yard with Moki in its mouth.
According to Jon, our hero ran out of his house, picked up a rock, took aim and conked the wild animal, forcing it to drop Moki before fleeing this unexpected assault.
The Kagawas’ pet fell to the ground, motionless at first, then sprang to life! Detomasi wanted to reunite Moki with his very grateful owners, not just return the collar.
