Mountain lion snatches pet poodle from hillside home in Burbank

Aug. 26, 2015 10:29 AM PT

Police warned residents to be on alert after a mountain lion took off with a pet poodle from the backyard of a hillside home in Burbank on Saturday.

The mountain lion was spotted in a backyard in the 500 block of North Sunset Canyon Drive, where it took the poodle before disappearing into the hills behind the home, said Burbank Police Sgt. Claudio Losacco.

On Wednesday, police shared the following safety tips for residents:

Don’t feed deer, as it’s illegal and will attract mountain lions.
Trim brush to reduce hiding places for mountain lions.
Keep pets inside at dawn, dusk and at night, when mountain lions are most active.
Install motion sensitive lighting around your home.
Keep pet food inside.
Never approach a mountain lion. If you encounter one, don’t run away. Instead, face the animal, make noises and wave your arms.

Alene Tchekmedyian, alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com

Twitter: @atchek

Alene Tchekmedyian

Alene Tchekmedyian is an investigative reporter at the Los Angeles Times. She previously covered the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, focusing on accountability stories and writing about failures by officials to comply with transparency laws. Before joining The Times in 2016, she reported on crime and policing for the Glendale News-Press and Burbank Leader.