Residents Worried After Coyote Attacks, Kills Dog In Penn Hills
PENN HILLS (KDKA) -- The Pennsylvania Game Commission is advising pet owners to keep a close eye on their animals when they're outside after a Penn Hills woman's dog was recently attacked and killed by a coyote.
Officials say the coyote population has grown significantly over the past few years, and this attack happened right in front of the woman's eyes.
When the coyote came into her yard, Isabelle Pintado says there simply wasn't enough time to get to her Yorkie-Pomeranian mix named Amy.
"She was out here when he grabbed her, killed her immediately," said Pintado.
The bite marks on Blake, one of Pintado's two Chihuahuas, is evidence of what happened next.
"When he grabbed Blake, he shook him once, and I said, 'I've got to do something,' and I started running towards the animal, and I got lucky, and he dropped him," Pintado said.
But what happened next is what has Pintado most worried.
"He would not leave the property," Pintado says of the coyote. "He was standing his ground right there."
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Pennsylvania Game Commission Officer Tom Kline offers some advice if a coyote should venture into your neighborhood.
"The thing that we tell people to do is to act big, yell, make noise," said Officer Kline. "You want that coyote to see a human or somewhere out there as a negative thing."
Officer Kline says there are coyotes in every county in the state, and they don't just stick to the woods in their search of prey.
"We are getting more reports now of people seeing them," he said.
So, if you have a small pet, Kline says, "Be outside with them, if they are going to be outside. That way, if they are going to encounter something, they would be there for it."
This is not the first time this coyote has been seen in Pintado's neighborhood. She worries about her other dogs because she says the coyote came up on her driveway two weeks ago.
Stephanie Cochran, who lives a couple doors down, and her husband saw it, too.
"It was definitely a coyote. It was a big like a German Shepherd, it had a silver tail with a black tip," says Cochran. "I have a dog. I'm used to the deer, I'm used to the turkey, but I don't want a coyote in the neighborhood."
"He's acting very bold; I don't like it," adds Pintado. "I'm sure he will come back."
