Shocked residents of an Ormond Beach neighborhood expressed sympathy for the owner of a small dog that was taken from her leash and killed by a wild coyote recently.
The incident took place around Sanchez Park, near the Ormond Terrace neighborhood, according to social media posts on Nextdoor.com. Kristyn DiVerniero, who claims to be part of the dog owner’s family, said the five-pound Yorkie was not on a long leash.
“She was a few feet from her mom but behind her mom. They were about to enter the garage which was the normal routine. The coyote took the leash right out of her hand. FWC has returned the deceased dog to us. The collar and the leash were still attached,” she wrote on Nextdoor.
WESH-TV identified Lynn Blanford as the dog’s owner in a Nov. 26 broadcast. As of Thursday, Nov. 27, it was not clear when the attack occurred.
Attempts to reach the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Blanford, and DiVerniero were unsuccessful on Thanksgiving Day.
Neighbors express sympathy over Ormond Beach coyote attack
Several neighbors took to Nextdoor to express their condolences to Blanford and to share their concern over rampant, recurrent coyote appearances in the area.
Elaine Davis wrote that “there’s a whole pack of coyotes living in those woods right there between the park and Ridgewood (Avenue),” calling it a “serious” and “dangerous” situation.
“I had one about a month or two ago come up the middle of Melrose (Avenue),” Davis wrote. “I had my little dog out on a leash and it started to run at me in front of my house. I immediately put my little dog inside and grabbed the gun and came back out but it was gone that quick.”
Allison Pellgrin said she lives close to Blanford and was heartbroken for her neighbor.
“Everyone in the neighborhood has just been sick over this,” Pellegrin wrote. “My neighbor across the street gave me a whistle because I walked my dogs very early in the morning.”
Kristyn DiVerniero commented that an eyewitness jumped out of his truck to assist, but it was too late.
“We are worried people are assuming it was a long leash and therefore the dogs are safe on a short leash … We don’t want anyone else to go through this,” she wrote.
Coyote sightings are common in Florida neighborhoods
Coyotes are found in all of Florida’s 67 counties, according to FWC’s website.
The close relatives to domestic dogs are “extremely adaptable and can be found in rural, suburban and urban landscapes.”
And even though they are generally shy and elusive, “encounters between people and coyotes in Florida are occurring more often,” according to the agency.
While adults are not the targets of coyote attacks, “coyotes can and do prey on domestic cats and small dogs.”
“Most coyote attacks on pets occur either at night or in the early evening or morning hours (dusk and dawn),” according to FWC.
For pet owners, there are some ways to avoid coyote attacks, according to the agency:
According to FWC, it is important never to feed coyotes “either intentionally or unintentionally.”
“Clean up pet food, fallen fruit and seed around bird feeders – coyotes are opportunistic feeders and will be drawn to and eat all of these potential food sources,” FWC says.
Removing coyotes from a given area to “eradicate” their presence is an “ineffective and inefficient” method, the agency says.
Instead, “Hazing the animal by making loud noises and acting aggressively will typically cause a coyote to leave an area,” according to FWC’s website, “but you may need to increase and continue hazing efforts until the coyote is effectively deterred and leaves the area for good.”
Installing an alarm system or motion-activated sprinklers can also be more effective alternatives to deter coyotes from residential areas.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Reports: Coyote snatches dog off leash in fatal Ormond Beach attack
Reporting by Brenno Carillo, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
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