Coyote kills pet dog in East Providence

Johnston Police confirm another dog was also killed by a coyote in their town earlier this week.

EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) – A family is devastated after their family dog was killed by a coyote in East Providence early Wednesday morning.

Zelda, the 15-year-old miniature poodle, was out in her owner’s yard around 6 A.M Wednesday when suddenly a coyote attacked her.

“The owner of the dog did see the animal taken. She was inside the house and had the small dog outside,” said William Muggle of East Providence Animal Control.

Zelda’s owner, who spoke with ABC 6 off camera, says she took her eye off of her for just a second and when she looked back out, she saw her in the coyote’s mouth.

“As sad as the call was, it wasn’t surprising that it happened that way,” said Muggle. “There was a small dog outside, no one around, and it saw the opportunity to get that dog.”

Muggle says there wasn’t anything really unusual about the tragic incident, saying the coyote had an appropriate fear of humans.

“With this incident, once the coyote realized there was a human nearby, it actually dropped the dog. Because she ran outside, she was inside at the time, she ran outside, yelled at the coyote. Coyote dropped the dog and took off,” said Muggle.

Unfortunately it was too late and Zelda had already died.

Johnston Police confirm another dog was also killed by a coyote in their town earlier this week.

In East Providence, Muggle says they haven’t seen an uptick in coyote sightings but it’s always good to be cautious.

“We actually haven’t gotten that many calls, at least not more than average,” said Muggle. “So it’s just an unfortunate event.”

Muggle recommends either keeping small pets inside or going outside with them. He also says food can attract coyotes, even gardens, so it may be helpful to fence those in.