A doggone hero fights aggressive coyote
Published: August 1, 2007
A Golden Retriever in Cambridge, Canada, is being hailed as a hero after saving her master following a chance encounter with an aggressive coyote.
Bailey sits statuesque-like on the kitchen floor of her west Galt family home with a dog biscuit perched on her nose. Only when given a command does she flip the treat up in the air and grab it with lightening speed and chomp it to bits.
But this pet has a new trick in her arsenal. In fact, her new feat has earned her hero status.
Just over a week ago, she saved her owner Jan Arnald from an aggressive coyote that spotted them during an early morning walk, charged and chased them home.
Arnald, who lives at the corner of Inverness Place and Inverness Drive, said she has never been afraid of an animal before. But that July 10 changed everything.
The coyote caught sight of her as she and Bailey approached the top of the hill near Grand Ridge Drive while starting out on their daily 4:30 a.m. stroll.
“It charged at us and it lunged right at me,” said Arnald, who owns a tanning salon in west Galt. “It came right at the back of my legs and it followed me home.”
Bailey, stilled leashed and at her owner’s side, fended off the animal by leaping on it, growling and barking, always keeping herself between her master and the coyote.
“She kept that thing at bay.”
Arnald cut through bushes on her lawn and ran into the house with the retriever, slamming the glass screen door behind them. Safe inside, she could see the coyote jumping up on the glass, clawing to get in. Terrified, she called for her husband to help.
“I just sat on the floor and shook.”
In reflection, Arnald said she should have perhaps dropped her dog’s leash but she was worried Bailey might clash with the animal, fearing the coyote could be rabid.
Unscathed, yet still shaken by the encounter, Arnald contacted Cambridge animal control officials to report the incident but was unaware if any investigation was underway.
Jamie Austin, Cambridge’s Manager of Operations Compliance, confirmed the city received the Inverness Place resident’s report and added there appears to be an increase in coyote sightings this season. Several were spotted last Wednesday on Townline Road near the roundabout.
He was surprised upon learning that a coyote, a normally timid, nocturnal animal, acted aggressively toward a human. Coyotes are known for preying on small animals such as cats but don’t normally go after humans. This week, a Kitchener woman reported witnessing a coyote nab her cat and run off with it in its mouth.
Austin noted that while animal control employees want to hear reports of coyote sightings, they aren’t trained or equipped to trap the animals. He said the city has hired a private contractor to track and trap the coyotes.
Meanwhile, Arnold is warning neighbours to take precautions when out walking, especially after several more coyote sightings later that week. Although she didn’t go out for her daily stroll for a few days, she and Bailey are walking again but now go later in the morning. And Arnald is armed with a bottle of pepper spray donated by a contact from her tanning salon.
She has also armed herself with more information, researching habits of coyotes. She advises anyone who meets up with a coyote to make excessive noise to scare the animals off.
“I don’t want to scare people, but I’ve seen them,” she insisted. “I was just lucky I had my dog.”
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