At least five coyotes circled a stray dog in an Orange County neighborhood earlier this month. The attack lasted 45 minutes, but the dog was able to stay alive.
In an amazing film from May 6, the dog fought off the coyotes in the driveway of a home in Brea.
The homeowner said it happened at about 5:40 a.m. on Huntley Circle, close to the 57 freeway.
In the film, several coyotes attack a young Labrador/German shepherd mix that was walking around the neighborhood without a collar. People didn’t know there was a fight going on in their yard until it was over because the dog only barked a few times.
“As my garage door opened, I slammed on the window.” A group of five or six foxes came from different directions and started to climb our hill, Steve Shatynski wrote in an email. “The puppy went up the hill with the other dogs.”
The owner of the dog posted the video on Nextdoor so that someone could find it and take it home. Shatynski said that the dog was later seen exploring the area for two more days and even came back to his house.
After failing in his attempts to train the dog, Shatynski called the Brea cops for help. Once they had made plans with Orange County Animal Care, a private hunter came to get the dog and take it to a nearby shelter.
He said that the dog’s post on the OC Animal Care website was taken down after he saw it. He can be adopted now that the listing was made public again on Wednesday night.
As far as Shatynski could tell, the dog didn’t seem to be hurt by what happened. In the video, you can see the dog protecting itself by scaring the coyotes away and pulling back when it needs to in order to avoid being mauled.
As a general rule, coyotes are common in the area, so pet owners should be extra careful after the attack. Shatynski said that people can’t always count on their pets to warn them of danger. He said that the dog had only barked a few times before the attack and no other noises were heard.
Coyote sightings are becoming more popular in the area, so animal control officials warn people not to leave their pets outside alone, especially at night or early in the morning, when coyotes are most active. People are also told to use motion-activated lights and get rid of food sources like pet food and falling fruit to keep wildlife away.
To keep places safe, the government is still asking people to share information and report sightings.
“This article was written by Mathew Owen. AI tools were used lightly for grammar and formatting, but the ideas, words, and edits are all mine.”
