SAN DIEGO (NEWS 8) — A dog in the East County is recovering after being attacked by coyotes. Rocky was out Wednesday morning when one or two coyotes bit him several times. His injuries were so bad he had to get staples.
“I heard a horrendous sound banging and clanging and noise and that's what popped me up out of bed,” said Linda Barber.
Linda described the terrifying moments that unfolded in her yard around 1 a.m. Wednesday morning.
"That's when we heard Rocky just screaming and crying,” she said.
Rocky is one of Linda's four small dogs and she rushed outside when she heard him.
“He was screaming and fighting the best he could,” she said.
Linda realized the 16-pound wiener dog had been viciously attacked.
“There's like 12 to 15 puncture wounds,” she said. “He could have lost his eye.”
Linda had no idea what attacked Rocky until her neighbor checked his security cameras.
“We watched the video and sure enough there was a coyote in his driveway just standing there sniffing around,” said Linda. “The flood light across the street came on and you could see the second one.”
The video was recorded over before News 8 could get a copy. But the pawprints from the animals scaling Linda’s fence are still visible.
"You can see all the marks right here,” she said.
Linda is now warning neighbors about the potential danger.
"I really don't think they expect them to be in their yards,” she said.
Rocky is expected to be okay; Linda believes he was a little too big for the coyote to carry him away.
But beyond closing off her doggy door, she wonders what else can be done to protect people's pets.
Wildlife authorities will only intervene if a coyote attacks a human or if it's sick or injured.
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