Booboo the five-pound toy fox terrier snatched by
a coyote in Washington state.
Every morning for the past five years, Booboo, a five-pound toy fox terrier accompanied his owner Hai Nguyen to retrieve the newspaper from the driveway fronting their home in Snohomish County, Washington.
Neither man nor dog could have anticipated what happened on the morning of June 24. As the pair walked out to the driveway, a coyote suddenly grabbed Booboo by the back of the neck and ran off with the diminutive dog.
Nguyen, standing only a few feet away, was stunned.
The coyote just snapped right at the neck of my dog... I tried to run and chase after it, but it just happened too quick, like maybe 10 seconds and he was gone.
--Hai Nguyen, on losing his dog to a coyote
As tragic as the incident is,"it is rare - but not unheard of - for a hungry coyote to come into a neighborhood and walk off with a small pet" reports NorthWest Cable News (NWCN) in Washington state. These "urban coyotes" that appear in some developed neighborhoods "almost always steer clear of humans, [but] small pets can look like easy prey."
The best thing to do, Fish and Wildlife experts tell NWCN, is to "limit potential food sources, [and] keep pet food dishes inside and keep your pets on a short leash."
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Comments
Why do people allow small dogs like this outside alone.............that is asking for trouble
I still feel for the family a very hard lesson learned
So sorry for your loss.
Most conflicts result from people providing coyotes with food, intentionally or not. Fundamental to resolving negative encounters with wild animals is reducing attractants. Keep companion animals indoors at night and feed them indoors as well; walk dogs on leashes, keep refuse containers inaccessible to animals, and keep other food sources like fallen fruit and birdseed off the ground; these are easy ways to reduce conflicts. Unless people take responsibility to remove attractants to discourage unwanted wildlife, negative encounters with coyotes and other predators will occur and animals will be destroyed. Love ‘em or hate ‘em coyotes are here to stay. For more information visit www.ProjectCoyote.org
Also, watch the film trailer for “American Coyote— Still Wild at Heart” at www.projectcoyote.org/index.html
Sonya, Did you not read what the owners said? The dog was NOT outside alone, it was with it's owner going to the diveway to get the newspaper like they had done hunderds of times. You need to know what you're facts before you write!!!!!
I lived down south west of Tampa; coyoties got two cats in a small developed community, one was mine, I was devestated but she loved to go outside, I didn't want to deprive her of her freedom, I never thought coyoties woulb be there. We never saw her again. My neighbor witnessed her cat being killed.
The coyoties travel in packs, and hunt in pairs if you see one another is lurking around the corner they hunt in the evening.
I am going through the same- I didn't see the coyote have my dog in its mouth but we did see the remains of only her head. ;(
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