Overview
- Responding to a 911 burglary report in the Moss Bay neighborhood, officers discovered a bobcat perched at the top of a staircase and used a drone to monitor its movements, the department said in a Facebook post Monday, Aug. 31.
- Officers guided the bobcat into an unoccupied room using the drone and held it there until Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife personnel arrived to sedate and release it near Forbes Creek.
- No injuries were reported to the homeowner, responding officers, the resident’s cat, or the bobcat after the animal was returned to its habitat.
- Kirkland’s centralized public‑safety drone program, created in 2022 and staffed with FAA‑licensed pilots, enabled the indoor operation and highlights expanding nontraditional uses of municipal drones for officer safety and wildlife incidents.
- Officials urged residents to give bobcats space, keep pets indoors at dusk and dawn, secure small livestock and poultry, and call 911 if a wild animal enters a home to avoid confrontations and speed trained response.