By Neale Gulley
Following as many as four coyote incidents in North Tonawanda in roughly the first two weeks of April, more sightings are now being reported.
Warner Avenue Resident Rhonda Johnson said her 8-year-old Lahasa-poo, a poodle mix, was thrashed about by a coyote June 24.
“I had the other two dogs in the house, then I heard Heidi screaming, yelping,” she said. “Then I heard my husband screaming ‘let go ... put her down.’ He comes up to me with Heidi in his arms and he’s got blood on his shirt. Somehow my husband was able to scare it enough to drop her.”
After 20 stitches, the dog survived, suffering torn muscle tissue and a serious puncture wound around the ribs.
Johnson said she called city officials, who told her to buy a sling-shot.
“They told me the reason is that you’re not allowed to shoot in the city — the only way I could remedy the situation without a firearm or a bow is a slingshot. And I said ‘I couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn with a sling shot,’ ” she said.
Johnson, however, has been told she is free to hire a trapper, so long as it’s on her property.
Prior to the dog being attacked, Johnson said her husband first sighted the animal in May while working in the garden.
“The same coyote just tracked right by him, went into the woods and turned around and looked at him,” she said.
The coyote surfaced again after the attack on Heidi.
“I saw the same coyote coming through and he had a cat, so he had dinner that night,” she said. “Somebody’s missing a cat.”
She has since also called the DEC, who told her to fill a water gun with ammonia and spray the area to scare off coyotes.
Mayor Lawrence V. Soos sent out a press release Monday warning of recent coyote sightings in the northwest part of the city— particularly along Warner Avenue and on Payne Avenue near St. Joseph’s Church.
Soos advises residents to take extra precautions for themselves, their children and their pets and not to come into contact with, or attract any wild animals.
The Police Department, DEC and Niagara County Health Department have been alerted of all reported sightings to date.
Any sightings or encounters with coyotes should be reported to the Mayor’s Office at (716) 695-8540 or North Tonawanda Police Department at 692-4111.
