Dog hurt as Calgary faces growing coyote activity
CALGARY City officials are looking at new ways to keep Calgarians and their pets safe after a family dog was seriously injured in the latest of an increasing number of coyote attacks.
Chris Manderson, urban conservation lead with Calgary Parks, said coyotes in Calgary are “a relatively recent phenomenon.”
“They’ve figured out city life,” Manderson said. “We do have them everywhere in the city ... but I think you can safely say parks, open spaces, in communities; they’re out there and doing their thing.”
That “thing” is usually “normal coyote stuff,” such as snacking on rabbits and rodents, and hanging out in their dens.
But sometimes a coyote loses its fear of humans, including a case in 2017 when coyotes caused the closure of pathways in Panorama Hills. When that happens, Manderson said the animals could start to view household pets as “a threat or, potentially, as prey.”
This seems to be the case in the northwest community of Arbour Lake, where an eight-year-old Yorkshire-shih-tzu cross named Sophie started howling Wednesday afternoon.
Owner Joel Pollard said he let the dog outside to “do her business” around 1 p.m. when the commotion started. Sophie was barking — which Pollard said she never does — and then cried out in pain.
“I knew she was being attacked,” he said.
Looking out the window, he saw the small dog in the clutches of a coyote’s jaws. Pollard says he “freaked” and thought “oh, God, she’s gone.”
The homeowner said he regularly hears coyotes howling at night and said his wife had another encounter with one of the animals about a month ago when it entered the yard “and came right to the door,” staring “face to face with my wife.”
Pollard said it was a matter of “fight or flight” when he saw Sophie in the coyote’s mouth. He bolted out the door with no shoes on, chasing the coyote up the hill in the backyard as the animal leaped over a five-foot-tall terrace.
The coyote dropped Sophie, who was rushed to a veterinary clinic where she received 20 stitches for multiple lacerations on her face and neck.
Pollard’s encounter is just the most recent in a string of coyote attacks — some of them fatal — in the Calgary area.
Two coyote incidents involving children in the Airdrie area last year prompted officials to step up safety measures, and Calgary city Coun. Jeff Davison issued a warning to constituents in January about an increase in coyote activity.
Manderson confirmed the city received a complaint to 311 from Pollard, and a team of city contractors hired to “haze” coyotes into fearing humans is looking into the incident.
He said hazing is the best deterrent currently available to city crews, but citizens need to play their part by making sure properties are kept free of “attractants,” such as dog poop, crab apples and even pets.
The city only took over managing the local population from the province in 2017, Manderson said.
Numbers from the city show there were 1,005 coyote calls in 2017, with 185 reported as aggressive. The total number of calls for service jumped to 1,369 in 2018, but the number of aggressive reports dropped to 14.
As of Thursday, the city has received 645 coyote calls to 311 this year. Sixty of those were classified as aggressive by the callers.
The city rarely kills the animals, Manderson said, adding studies have shown culling coyotes usually results in a population explosion.
“They’ll replace themselves at a faster rate (after a cull) ... The thing for us is we know that approach doesn’t work. And, frankly, not something that we want to do,” he said.
Coun. Sean Chu says he’s bringing a notice of motion to council next month to explore deterrents other than hazing by looking to research from the University of Calgary. He will also be looking at ways to educate “bad apple” pet owners.
Urban coyotes are an important part of Calgary’s ecosystem, Manderson said, and help control the populations of other wildlife, especially rodents.
The city said not to turn your back or run away from a coyote. Instead, maintain eye contact and make lots of noise to try to scare it away.
If you see a coyote, call 311. For a full list of coyote safety tips, visit www.calgary.ca/coyotes.