Woman's Dog Is Attacked By Coyote; At Least 4 Coyote Sightings On Near North Side Sunday Night
CHICAGO (CBS) -- It happened in a matter of seconds – a woman's dog was attacked by a coyote on the Near North Side.
On Sunday night alone, there were four other coyote incidents or sightings within just hours. But as CBS 2's Charlie De Mar reported, coyote sightings in the city should not be a surprise.
"I was screaming her name – 'Missy! Missy!'" said Lynell Dillon. "And the coyote just was steady dragging her."
Missy is Dillon's 7-year-old Schnauzer. As Missy did her business Sunday in a patch of grass in the 900 block of North Cambridge Avenue in the Cabrini Rowhouses, an unpleasant surprise surfaced.
"I said, 'Oh my God! That's a wolf!'" Dillon said. "And one of them corrected me and said, 'It's a coyote.'"
Dillon said a coyote snuck up and grabbed Missy by the neck. Neighbor Jessi Dennis saw the attack.
"(I thought), 'Oh Lord, she going to kill her!'" Dennis said. "He had her… just had Missy going. Ooh, I was a nervous wreck when I got in the house."
"This is the city," Dillon added. "This is not a rural area where you just see wild animals."
But as it happens, coyote sightings in the city are not uncommon. A video taken Friday shows a limping coyote in the same Near North neighborhood, right outside a Whole Foods.
It is estimated by the Urban Coyote Research Project that between 1,500 and 2,000 coyotes call Cook County home. There is an abundance in Cook County of rodents – one of their favorite things to dine upon.
As for Missy, Dillon's grandson stepped in.
"He literally just took the chair and was threatening to attack the coyote," Dillon said.
Dillon's grandson succeeded in scaring the coyote away.
"That's when the coyote took off," Dillon said.
On Sunday night alone, there were at least four coyote reports to Animal Care and Control – all just blocks away from Dillon. On Elm Street near Cleveland Avenue, a man reported a coyote chased after him and his dog.
"I can see them on TV, in the zoo, but not on Delaware (Place)," Dillon said.
Missy was left a little shaken up, but did not suffer major injuries.
Meanwhile, officials remind pet owners to keep their pets on leashes, and if you do encounter a coyote, you should never run.
