A Massachusetts woman is mourning the loss of one of her dogs and is warning other dog owners about the dangers of local coyotes.
Dawn Davies told NBC10 Boston said her toy poodle Pushkin was taken from her Wayland backyard on Saturday morning by a pack of coyotes.
"I waited for daylight to let Pushkin and Gogol out," Davies said, referring to her other toy poodle.
She said she opened the sliding door to let the dogs out just as she usually did. Davies was watching from the window as her toy poodles went to stretch their legs. But she couldn't see the predators lurking around the corner.
"What was a little surprising was when the coyote picked up Pushkin, he didn't really bark. He just made a little yipping sound," she said.
Fifteen pound Pushkin, who was rescued from the destruction of Hurricane Katrina, was taken by a pack of four coyotes.
"I chased them, and I was clearly no match for a running coyote."
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Davies said she tried to scream to scare them, but they didn't react.
Pushkin meant a lot to the Davies family.
"He was an adopted dog. My children are adopted. And this was an important connection for them," she said.
Davies's daughter, Ellie, was upstairs in her room when it happened. She had just gotten home from boarding school.
"I just want to spend time with my pets, and then one of my pets is taken from me at 6:30 in the morning while I'm asleep," Ellie said.
Ellie said they didn't look like coyotes to her. They seemed much bigger than coyotes.
The coyotes tried to get Gogol but dropped him.
After the police were called, they found where the coyotes took Pushkin.
Davies said she wants other dog owners to know that being nearby isn't going to be enough to protect your dog.
The Davies now have a small fence in their backyard to protect their other dog.
