Dog's death prompts calls for new coyote strategy
Coyote grabbed small dog Sunday in Riverside Park as stunned residents watched
Residents of Ottawa's Riverside Park neighbourhood are calling on the city to implement better policies to deal with aggressive coyotes after the brazen killings of a small dog near Stanstead Park over the weekend and a cat last month.
Drew Enright was outside his home on Marcel Street around 12:30 a.m. Sunday when his neighbour's small dog first noticed the coyote.
"He ran into the bushes and out came a coyote with unfortunately the dog in its mouth. [The coyote] raced down the street," said Enright. "It was a sense of disbelief."
By the time Enright and his neighbours ran down the street to catch the coyote, the animal was already gone.
A coyote was reported in the school yard at École élémentaire catholique George-Étienne-Cartier and in Pauline Vanier Park on Monday afternoon. Both are located in the vicinity of the attack, near Walkley Road and the Airport Parkway.
Not the 1st attack
Sonya Monaghan, who also lives in the area, said she and her husband Geoff Penton saw a coyote trotting down the street with a cat in its mouth in late August.
"My husband and I ran outside to chase it, thinking we could maybe get it to drop the cat, but no such luck," said Monaghan. "It just pranced its way up the street, around the corner and into the McCarthy Woods."
That wasn't their only encounter with a coyote. On Monday morning, Penton spotted one of the animals trotting down the middle of Marcel Street.
"I ran outside, grabbed a baseball bat for whatever reason, and just started yelling 'Coyote! Coyote! Coyote!'" said Penton.
Penton said he's taking extra precautions because they have a new puppy: whenever he takes his puppy out late at night, Penton takes a baseball bat with him.
Councillor calls for new approach
According to River ward Coun. Riley Brockington, the city needs a new strategy to deal with coyotes.
"There's a concern in the community with the proximity of coyotes with humans and just the sheer number of sightings that we've seen, particularly in the last eight weeks … they're now in the residential communities and they are not showing fear of humans," said Brockington.
Brockington said he began speaking with the city manager a few weeks ago to urge a much more proactive approach.
"Right now, the city is better prepared if there are moose or bears in the neighbourhoods, but not coyotes," Brockington said.
Coyote sightings within Ottawa's city limits have become commonplace, but residents fear the aggressive behaviour of at least one of the animals requires immediate attention.
In the meantime, Brockington is reminding residents to keep pet food, birdseed and even fallen fruit such as apples out of coyotes' reach.
Cats should be kept indoors and dogs should always be leashed, he advised.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With files from Giacamo Panico