$3 million doesn't buy what it used to

Sabrina Gordon-Gilardian grew up in the San Fernando Valley with her heart set on living in one place, and one place only.

(Two clues: Swimming pools. Movie stars).

In February, it finally happened.

"I spent $3 million to live in Beverly Hills 90210. To be the creme de la creme of society. I am supposed to be at the pinnacle here," she wrote to me.

But little did she know that paradise could be hell.

In April, wildfires came too close for comfort. In July, she read about the burglary ring hitting the homes of the rich and famous in Beverly Hills and surroundings.

But the toughest blow of all came last month, when coyotes ate her miniature beagle, Lucy.

"I am miserable living here and did not get what I bargained for," Gordon-Gilardian wrote, asking if I could help.

I drove as fast as the law allows to the Gordon-Gilardian home between Coldwater and Benedict canyons, just under Mulholland Drive. Gordon-Gilardian led me out back, where a nanny watched her two young boys, one of whom drives a miniature battery-operated Cadillac Escalade.

Gordon-Gilardian, 31, pointed up a steep embankment to the place where the vicious predators came through. She and her husband were just back from a weekend at the Morongo Casino, heard a yelp and made the horrifying discovery.

"That was my angel dog," she said, telling me the pocket-size beagle cost $2,000 at Pet Love in the Beverly Center five years ago.

For $2,000, you'd think you could get a full-size beagle. Not only did they lose their dog, but now they've had to drop $5,000 more on an electric fence to keep the coyotes from making off with the kids.

I quickly assessed the situation and observed that Gordon-Gilardian's property line abuts a wilderness canyon where, it can be assumed, some wild animals might be living.

Did that possibility ever cross her mind?

Sure, she said. She'd have no problem seeing the occasional deer.

"But we didn't know coyotes lived here."

While we were talking, she got a cellphone call from her husband, who trades with China in the import-export business, according to Gordon-Gilardian. She told him I was on the case and she hoped some good would come of it.

When she called the city of Beverly Hills for help, she said, she got the run-around and was told animal control officers might or might not come.

When she asked the Fire Department about clearing the brush next to her property, she says, she was told it was her concern.