This photo of Betsy, left, was taken shortly before she died Dec. 12. Ginger, right, died in August. Both were attacked by the same coyote in Quail Creek.
Posted on 01/13/2024 2:47:35 PM PST by nickcarraway
Don’t tell Roger Shuman lightning doesn't strike in the same place twice.
Shuman, who lost his 12-year-old Chihuahua, Ginger, to a coyote Aug. 3, lost another dog to the same coyote in December. Both attacks happened in the backyard of his Quail Creek home.
Betsy, an 8-year-old Chihuahua mix, died at a veterinary hospital a couple of days after the Dec. 10 attack.
“He got her by the throat, beat her on the ground and kept shaking her,” Shuman said of the coyote, which he described as “20 to 30 percent larger than a typical coyote.”
“When I got to her, there was no sign of life… I couldn’t see her chest rising or falling. I assumed she was dead."
When he saw Betsy twitch, he knew she was still alive and took her to an vet emergency facility. The dog appeared to be getting better but then began having difficulty breathing despite two days in an oxygen tent.
“They told me she was never going to be the same,” he said. “That made it easier to pull the plug.”
Shuman only saw the coyote from a distance but a neighbor confirmed it was likely the same oversized animal from August, which has often been seen in the neighborhood.
Shuman said he had changed how long and when he’d allow his two other dogs to be in the backyard after Ginger died in August. He closed the doggie door before sunset and didn’t open it until about an hour after sunrise. For several months, there were no problems, he said, noting his property doesn’t back up to a golf course, wilderness area or arroyo.
“I thought that was a freak thing,” he said of the August attack. “I didn’t see the coyotes roaming the streets like before.”
It’s only anecdotal, but based on conversations with other residents and what he sees on the golf course, Shuman says there are 50 coyotes roaming Quail Creek at any given time. He blames it in part on a recent proliferation of rabbits.
“They’re not afraid of people. They’re getting bolder, they really are," he said, noting it's not uncommon to see coyotes in the middle of the day in Quail Creek. "Each time they go out, they expand their hours and expand their territories.”
“I never felt threatened until this year,” he added.
Betsy and Ginger aren’t the only losses Shuman has experienced in Quail Creek. In March 2020, he lost a Chiweenie dog after it was startled by an approaching golf cart and jumped into the golf cart lane and was struck.
Shuman recently adopted a Dachshund-Chihuahua mix from Arizona Small Dog Rescue in Phoenix. Bert is a puppy and still not house trained so spends time in the backyard. Shuman isn’t comfortable with it, but he said there's no getting around it.
As for his other dog, Buddy, a Chihuahua-Rhodesian Ridgeback, “He can handle himself,” Shuman said. “I think the coyote would not take him on, he’d think he met his equal.”
This photo of Betsy, left, was taken shortly before she died Dec. 12. Ginger, right, died in August. Both were attacked by the same coyote in Quail Creek.
Those are so small you even have to watch for owls he should take better care of them my dog is 16 pounds and I never leave him alone plus 6 foot fence but we have coyotes that howl like Indians in the dead of night
“shuman said he had changed how long and when he’d allow his two other dogs to be in the backyard”
Em how about never, unless feeding coyotes is the intent
Jeff Foxworthy used to do a bit about Coyotes attacking his wife’s dogs until his German Shepherds intervened. My mother’s old and obese Corgi would go bananas when coyotes were around, as would my Border Collie.
Cat fights off coyote, narrowly escapes attack on Texas porch....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zSOYB0Iwp0
My domestic goddess of a cat wouldn’t be caught dead outside.
Our neighbors had a Teacup Chihuahua they nearly lost to an owl one night. Poor thing barely escaped with his life.
L
Coydog - - half coyote, half domestic dog. More dangerous because they aren't as timid and they're out during the day as well as night. We have them here.
Time to bring back Compound 1080.
That little dog looks like my little dog.
Yes, you cannot let small dogs out on their own. We watch our Chihuahua even if she’s on the deck with a fenced area around it. Before our Beagle Buddy died we used to let him babysit her because he was pretty frosty and wouldn’t let anything near Coco.
Absolutely correct! AZ is fraught with life threatening fauna, Coyotes, bobcats, cougars, rattlesnakes etc. I’d never EVER leave my dogs off leash or free ranging even in an enclosed area. My sister had a bull German Shepherd torn up prety good by coyotes in AZ. As good as AZ is with guns, they have a terrible law that makes it a felony to shoot to protect your pet.
After the 2 Chihuahuas, I’m sure the coyote is ready for the main course now. A Pomeranian would make a nice dessert to finish.
At the advice of my neighbor, all pets have an armed escort (me), when in the yard. I also have standing instructions to kill any coyote I have a clear shot at.
Where is this? AZ?
So sad.
We have to watch our lil guy, every second that he’s outside.....due to coyotes and owls. BIG owls.
:-(
Looks like our dog Danial. We have an enclosed pen in the back with a top on it. On the front porch in the winter with a side poop pen fully enclosed with chain link.
“As good as AZ is with guns, they have a terrible law that makes it a felony to shoot to protect your pet.”
I know - beyond stupid!
Looks like our dog Danial. We have an enclosed pen in the back with a top on it. On the front porch in the winter with a side poop pen fully enclosed with chain link.
Bonemaker wrote: “As good as AZ is with guns, they have a terrible law that makes it a felony to shoot to protect your pet.”
When i worked at Dugway Utah back in the mid-90s, we had several dogs taken by coyote in the family housing area. The Post Commander sent out an email advising residents that it was a violation of post regulations to shoot coyote even in defense of a pet.
Couple of days later while talking with a post policeman he asked if I’d seen the email. He wanted me to know that if the police would investigate any gunshots. He went on to tell me that they were rather busy and it would proably take them at least two hours to search for the shooter.
I thanked him, told him I would spread the news, but I wasn’t too worried about coyote. I told him my great dane liked the taste of coyote.
I had a young owl swooping down twice to take a look at my dog. I was sitting right there with the porch light on.
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