Dog owners are being warned to watch their pets closely after one dog’s remains were discovered in a Kitchener park.
Amy Germann says she let her dog Fred outside early one morning earlier this week. All seemed normal until a few minutes later, when Fred didn’t seem to be returning.
“We went outside, called his name … and then nothing,” she said in an interview.
Once daylight broke, friends and neighbours joined Germann in a search for her Yorkshire terrier.
They eventually found what looked to be his prints in the snow – right next to what are believed to have been a set of coyote tracks.
Following the tracks, they came upon what Germann described as “quite a bloodbath.”
“It was pretty gruesome,” she said.
Germann says she would like to see signs posted in the area, and wants dog owners to be more aware of the dangers of coyotes in her neighbourhood.
And it’s not just Stanley Park – the part of town she lives in – at risk.
“Wherever there’s greenspace, you have the opportunity to see wildlife,” said Josh Shea, Kitchener’s co-ordinator of natural areas.
“It’s possible to see coyotes all across the city.”
Shea says there have been four coyote sightings reported in Kitchener in the past three years, although more sightings have likely gone unmentioned.
All four, he says, occurred after dogs were left outside in yards backing onto greenspace.
He suggests a number of ways people can keep their pets better protected from coyotes, including:
- Not feeding coyotes or any other wildlife.
- Keeping yards clean and free from debris, garbage, piles of branches and leaves as those can attract mice, rabbits and other animals that make up a coyotes diet.
- Always keeping dogs on a leash and in close view.
- Not leaving pets unattended in the backyard, especially in the morning or evening and at night when coyotes are most active.
- Keeping cats indoors.
- Not putting meat or other meat products in outdoor composters.
Always ensuring that your composter is secured and covered with a lid.
