Coyotes Blamed For Pet Attacks In Boca Raton
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BOCA RATON (CBSMiami) -- Coyotes are on the loose and those coyotes are being blamed for at least two attacks on pets in Boca Raton in the past few days.
Residents in several West Boca Raton neighborhoods and other communities are being warned to protect themselves and their pets from coyotes.
Jill Putney took her 9-year old dog Kiwi out for a walk Tuesday morning when they encountered a coyote.
"I couldn't even believe what I was seeing. Within seconds it grabbed her neck. And it was pulling, I was pulling. It won,"Putney said.
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She said Kiwi suffered deep wounds and cuts. She underwent surgery, got stitched up and is quarantined for months. Only Putney can be with her.
Putney said a neighbor, Chris Lowenthal, heard what was happening and rushed to help.
"I instantly ran outside in my socks and boxer shorts and started running after that coyote," Lowenthal said.
Lowenthal said the coyote dropped Kiwi near some bushes and he scooped her up and took her back to a grateful Putney.
"My neighbor is an angel," Putney said of Lowenthal. "He's heroic. He's amazing."
Residents say they've seen coyotes in these West Boca Raton neighborhoods over the past two months. In the Boca Winds community, Mark Pinkstone said a coyote ran off with Lola, a Yorkie mix during a Saturday morning walk. He spoke to the Sun Sentinel.
"It just kept running, finally at the end of the block it turned and looked at me with Lola hanging in the coyote's mouth and that's the last I saw of her," Pinkstone told the Sun-Sentinel.
Lola was not found. Kiwi was -- shaken and wounded.
"She's not in the best of shape but they expect her to be ok," Putney said.
In the Timberlake community where Kiwi was attacked, they plan to hire a coyote trapper Wednesday morning. At Boca Winds, the community's Facebook page reminds residents to place all garbage bags in containers with lids. They hope that might cut down on the number of coyotes hunting around for food.
