Cruella De Ville Or Coyotes?

To the Editor:

After three cats on our block disappeared this summer, I contacted the police and was directed to the Dog Warden. He said it sounded like coyotes and gave me the State Canine Control number (860-713-2506). The woman there said Connecticut did have a coyote problem with regard to pets and livestock. She told me of a woman who took her small dog for a walk on a leash early one morning. When they returned home, she let the dog off the leash. As he was running to the front door, a coyote came out of the bushes, grabbed the dog and took off, right in front of the woman. I was then given the Department of Environmental Protection – Wildlife Division number (860-424-3011). I was told coyotes are 40 pound dogs that are cunning and shrewd and difficult to catch. They are considered wildlife and nothing is being done to control or contain them. Due to development they’ve been squeezed out of their homes. Hunting season for coyotes is virtually year-round, except for a couple of weeks in May and October.

I was obviously upset and asked once the coyotes went through the domestic pet population could we expect them to attack children? He replied that there haven’t been any reports of coyotes attacking humans in Connecticut; but in other states there have been reports of them attacking children. The gentleman was sympathetic regarding the loss of my pet and said the state has been trying to get the word out to the public to keep cats and small animals in from dusk to dawn, the coyotes’ most active hours, although they have been known to attack in broad daylight. Even large dogs have been wounded by coyotes.

To date I’ve learned of seven cats and one chicken in our vicinity that have disappeared this summer. The chicken was abducted at 4 o’clock in the afternoon. My purpose is to try to save others from losing their pets in this way. I like animals, but hadn’t realized what an integral part of the family our Ragdoll, Cappuccino, had become until he was gone. We had him nine years, and it’s obvious our other cat, his littermate, misses him, too.

For more information the wildlife Web site is: dep.state.ct.us. Specifically for coyotes try: dep.state.ct.us/burnatr/wildlife/factshts/coyote.htm.

Yours Truly,

Patricia Ryan

10 Beckett Village, Sandy Hook                                  September 5, 2001