Hello everyone.
A few weeks ago we lost our Yorkshire Terrier Harley Davidson. He was 11 years old, healthy and happy as can be. I found him laying in the yard, dead. The youngest Yorkie (5yrs old) was fine.
The sadness of his death has passed but his memory will always live on. But more importantly my loss has turned into action. You see Harley, did not pass away from old age, no, he was killed, by a coyote.
We live in a residential neighborhood; we leave two lights on, one on the inside of the porch and one on the outside. There is a church right next to us which is lit up all the time. They both have been going outside on leads; by themselves for years and all of sudden this happened.
We called the police and they told my husband, they were aware of coyote sightings in our area and would forward out report to the Animal Control. They knew and told no one, not a single letter, not a single report on the news or in the paper.
When I came home from shopping with my mother-in-law a few days after it happened, we found strange tracks were the boys go out. I made calls, Forest Preserve, Police, Animal Control, they all said the same thing, “Sorry for your loss, but we cannot do anything AND it’s illegal to trap and or kill a coyote.”
I am going to do everything I can to make sure this does not happen to someone else. Just because you feel safe in your area, you’re not, not even your little Yorkie. We now have a new little Yorkie, but a new policy too; we walk outside with them at all times holding their lead.
If you have a Yorkie or another kind of dog, go outside with them! Does not matter if your yard is fenced in, coyotes can easily jump over an eight foot fence to get at something. If you seen a coyote in your area, call Animal Control. They probably will not help, but as long as you tried to remove the threat from your area its a start.
For those of you who have lost a Yorkie, my heart goes out too you, nothing can ever replace them, but know they are in a heaven now, with St. Francis of Assisi.
http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/5804/morganandharley.jpg
(Photo was taken 12hrs before Harley passed away. He is in the red sweater. Morgan is in the green. )