In Toronto, Ontario, there have been papers put up on the streets that notify the people living around about coyotes being around and possibly being a risk for pets and children.
“Beware!” the paper reads. “Wild coyoties in parks and area. Keep your children and pets safe,” they go on. “Call 911 if you encounter an aggressive animal.”
Indeed, bumping into a wind coyote doesn’t sound like a nice surprise.
And, although the fact that they usually hunt at night means that it’s unlikely that they’ll cross paths with humans, studies show that coyotes can sometimes attack a person if they come across.
In fact, researchers have identified 142 coyote attacks on humans from 1960 to 2006, while there have only been three deaths from coyote attacks over these decades.
And, although until a while ago coyotes were mainly found in the Midwest and Southwest United States and portions of Mexico, they have now expanded their habitats to parts of Canada.
And that’s exactly where this incident happened.
In Toronto, there have recently been found coyotes that hunt at night and can possibly be dangerous for people and animals.
Last year, a little girl that was walking the family dog came across a wild coyote, and soon things took a dramatic turn.
“I thought, am I next, what is going to happen to me?” Kwan said.
10-year-old Lily Kwan was shocked when she saw the coyote approaching her and her dog, so she started screaming for help.
“I ran to the sidewalk and started screaming for help; no one heard me,” Kwan said. “I just saw this coyote trying to attack my dog. I tried to ring people’s door bells and knock on people’s doors; this one neighbor actually let me in.”
In the meantime, the 6-year-old Yorkie, Macy, tried to chase the coyote away from her young owner.
Even though Macy was severely injured, she still went above and beyond to protect little Lily.
“She’s a super brave dog; I love her so much, and I just thought this tiny dog could protect this huge human being, trying to fight off this huge coyote,” Kwan said.
Brave Macy spent quite some time in the ICU, where she had surgery that also had an impact on another condition that she already had before the attack.
And, while Macy’s family wanted to help her heal as soon as possible, they found it hard to pay the bill for emergency medical treatment and the surgeries that followed, so they started a GoFundMe page.
“Donations raised will go to help with Macy’s emergency vet bill as well as ongoing care for her injuries and any tests and treatments she may require,” Lily’s mom, Dorothy, a single parent of two wrote on the page.
Today, Macy has healed and she is much safer wearing some protective gear.
Still, mother and daughter can’t believe how lucky the girl and the dog were to survive the attack.
Watch Lily and Dorothy talk about their brave girl, Macy, in the video below.
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