LOS ANGELES (KNBC) — A chihuahua named Chico is alive and well after a attack by a coyote that was caught on home surveillance video.
The attack happened in broad daylight 11 a.m. in the backyard of Chico’s owners, Kerri and Larry Ruiz.
“They took Chico! Oh my God!” the owners are heard saying on camera.
According to them, they thought the dog would have been safe in the yard while the sun was our.
“We thought that they were just nocturnal,” Kerri Ruiz said.
Hysterical with fear, Kerri had run screaming into the bedroom. Her husband Larry and their son had taken off across the yard in pursuit, but by then, the coyote had jumped a brick wall and into a neighbor’s yard!
That’s when Kerri remembered her hand-held air horn. Larry started putting them around the house years ago.
Petrified by the sound, the coyote decided to drop chico and run. The dog only suffered some puncture wounds and a broken rib.
After a visit to the vet and a plastic head cone, he healed up just fine a few weeks later.
They don’t blame the coyotes.
They’re just wild animals, looking for food, but pet owners need to be smart about that, they told us.
“Never, ever, ever let their animals outside unattended,” Kerri said.
