By Justin Goulet

Coyote Attack

Coyote kills dog in Coaldale, deputy fire chief promotes safety

May 2, 2019 | 10:32 AM

COALDALE, AB – A resident in Coaldale dealt with a serious incident last week.

According to the Town, a dog was killed by a coyote. The Town’s Deputy Fire Chief of Public Safety Clayton Rutberg said over the last few, there have been “increased encounters” with coyotes.

He said many of the cases have been in the Kin Picnic Shelter area and northwest of the Alberta Birds of Prey Foundation facility.

“We contacted (Alberta) Fish and Wildlife to come out and do a bit of an assessment, check things out. They did attend here (Coaldale) this week, but with the dog that was attacked and killed (having been) off-leash, that kind of increases the chances of the coyotes being able to attack that dog,” Rutberg said.

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“It was determined that there was really nothing they (officers) could do, just to keep an eye on the situation and educate everybody on how to have safe encounters with coyotes.”

Rutberg could not say exactly what day the dog was attacked and killed. He noted that the report came in from a third party and the Town reached out to but was unable to contact the dog owner.

“We do get a lot of coyote sightings in Coaldale, you know, it’s not uncommon to see a coyote out and about. Typically, the encounters that we have with them are not quite as aggressive as this, but it is not uncommon to see coyotes running around Coaldale,” he added.

PUBLIC SAFETY

Rutberg said if someone comes face the face with a coyote and must defend themselves, they should show aggression and make themselves look larger, shout at the animal, maintain eye contact and attempt to back away slowly and get to a safe place.

“Most coyotes will respond to that and be scared of us as humans and we won’t have an issue but if there are aggressive encounters, then people can also phone that in and report that,” he explained.

“Typically, we don’t have a lot of aggressive encounters as the coyotes are more scared of us than we are of them.”

PET SAFETY

Rutberg said pet owners should always supervise their pets when outside, and cats shouldn’t be allowed to roam around alone.

“If there’s dog feces, make sure you’re picking that up and disposing of it properly. So, coyotes don’t get attracted to that. Make sure you walk your dog on a leash. That keeps the dog closer to you and the coyotes are a little bit more leery to come attack that animal if they’re with a human and you can scare the coyote off.”

Alberta Fish and Wildlife offers online resources and tips around interactions with coyotes. That can be found via this link.