APACHE JUNCTION, Ariz. — Early Saturday Morning, JC took her two chihuahua mixes, Brodie and Mimi, out in their dog run.
The Apache Junction resident knows coyotes frequent the area so she looked around.
“I looked around, and I didn’t see anything," JC said.
JC went inside to go to the restroom. She said she was gone only a minute, but when she came back out her dogs were nowhere to be seen.
“My heart just dropped.” JC said “I run down there, there was no place they could get out. And then I saw the coyote, and I knew.”
The coyote had Mimi hanging out of its mouth. Brodie was found later in the middle of the road.
“He’s got puncture wounds everywhere from his ankle to the top of his head”
JC would try to save her dog's life, but Brodie would not make it. Mimi still has not been found.
JC thought her dogs were safe, in their own little dog run surrounded by a fence just feet from her home.
“They are just like us in a way. They are trying to put food on the table for themselves and their pups.” Robin Wilson, with Southwest Wildlife Rescue, said.
She says coyotes hunt for rodents and bunny rabbits for food, but a small dog enclosed in a pen without a person watching can be an attractive target.
“They are not picking out your dog because that’s the best meal. They are picking out your dog because it’s the easiest meal.”
Wilson says you can protect your animals by giving them an enclosed space or make your yard less inviting. Most importantly, always watch them when you are outside.
“Please watch your dogs don’t leave them alone for a second. Believe me, they will disappear.” JC said.
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