Lakewood Dog Killed by Coyote; Residents Want Help

A coyote attacked and killed a Lakewood family's dog last week, and neighbors are seeking help for controlling what they see as a growing coyote problem.

Shannon Batkin opened his back patio door at about 6 a.m. last Tuesday, and watched as his 13-year-old miniature doberman pincher - only 10 pounds and recovering from a recent neck injury - slowly walked out to do her business. Normally, she runs right back in for breakfast.

But, when Mandy didn't return, Batkin went to the door and, to his horror, saw a large coyote standing with his dog in its mouth. The coyote began running across a fairway on Redtail Golf Course, near Trevino Way.

Batkin's wife Seri ran after the coyote, screaming "No." The coyote traveled a distance before finally dropping the small black dog, at which time other neighbors came out to help.

It was too late for Mandy. 

"My husband never heard a bark, or a whimper," Seri Batkins said. "We don't know if the coyote was under our deck. I'm hoping for my dog's sake, that she didn't suffer. But I can't get that image of the coyote holding her in its mouth out of my head."

"He was a big coyote," she said. "He was not starving. You could not see his ribs. There are a million rabbits around here. I don't think he was hungry."

Like so many of neighbors living on Trevino Way and Palmer Drive, the couple has children, and are concerned about letting them play outside without constant supervision. The golf course setting has proven a perfect environment for the coyotes, and one resident on Wednesday morning said she saw three coyote pups standing along Haligus Road.

Other neighbors say coyotes have approached them, even taunted some of their bigger dogs. 

Brian Coli, who lives on Palmer Drive, said a coyote appeared in his back yard last October. At first, it didn't mess with his two golden retrievers. 

"The first night the coyote stood in our yard watching them, and I yelled at the coyote, and eventually he left the yard," Coli said. "The next night, the coyote ran up and jumped towards one of our dogs.  My wife, Denise, happened to be watching them through the window, and she ran outside and screamed at the coyote until he ran off."

Another Lakewood resident, Patrice Stricker, reports that her friend in a neighboring Lakewood subdivision had a coyote follow her while she walked her dog down the street.

The woman had to continuously scream at the coyote and eventually picked up her dog.

"She said she was scared to death," Stricker told neighbors. 

Coli said he called the village of Lakewood last fall to report the coyotes. He was told there was nothing the village or police could do to protect residents from the wild animals. Coyotes are protected animals, they told him. 

"(The person I talked to) recommended I go door to door if I wanted to warn my neighbors," Coli said. "Since then more family pets have been attacked and killed in Lakewood. At minimum, the village needs to have a system in place for reporting coyote sightings and attacks, which also alerts Lakewood residents."

"We feel that these coyotes are becoming more aggressive and they are seeking out new food sources," Coli said in an e-mail to Lakewood village officials. "Whatever the problem is, it cannot continue to be ignored. We are seeking help from our village and our elected officials to make Lakewood a safer place for our families and pets to live."