Santa Barbara resident calls in canine search team to find her missing dog

A Santa Barbara pet owner called in some extra support to find her lost dog in the form of a team of bloodhounds and their handler.

Landa Coldiron and her bloodhounds from her company Lost Pet Detection are on the hunt for a missing Doberman named Popeye.

The 7-year-old dog ran off on Christmas Eve, and hasn’t been seen since.

The owner, who was too distraught to go on camera, has searched for her beloved pet for days but without any success.

The owner’s friend, Paulette Ferrari suggested she hire Coldiron to help.

“I heard about Landa and I did some research and I though this is a good way in getting some leads and finding Popeye,” Ferrari siad.

Coldiron travels all over helping people find their missing pets with the help of her specially trained canines. They have search for dogs, cats, parrots and even ferrets.

“As a bloodhound handler, I focus on the bloodhounds giving me a direction of travel which can lead to evidence, eyewitness, a target search area, lead to clues and give people an idea of how the pet was traveling,” Coldiron said.

Coldiron said bloodhounds can smell 200 million times better than a human can.

“They are literally a scent machine,” she said.

During the search on Saturday, the bloodhounds picked up a scent at Mission Creek between Islay and Valerio.

Ferrari said Popeye was a special dog who was known well throughout the community.

“People come over and want to say hi to him,” Ferrari said. “She just wants him back. We kind of all want him home.”

If you have seen Popeye, you can report it on the Facebook page “805 Lost and Found” or call the Santa Barbara Lost and Found Pets hotline number: 805-708-9882.

The owner is offering a $1,000 reward.