Daly City woman says 3 coyotes tried to attack dog while on walk with daughter

DALY CITY (KTVU)— A Daly City woman says three coyotes tried to attack her dog while she was walking with her eight-year-old daughter in the park.

The incident happened yesterday in the Westlake neighborhood near the San Francisco Golf Club and Lake Merced.

"We were throwing the ball for the dog and the next thing I just happened to look and was thinking what, what are those?" said Annamarie Dunne. She and her daughter Siomha Concannon were walking at 3:45pm yesterday afternoon when they say three coyotes charged at their golden retriever, Milly. "Three coyotes came out of nowhere chasing her trying to attack her," said Dunne.

"My mom yelled, 'Oh my god, there's coyotes!' and I thought she was just kidding but then I saw them and they nearly bit Milly's tail," exclaimed Concannon.

Dunne was able to get everyone out of the park safely, which borders the San Francisco Golf Club. She has seen coyotes before but said, "This is the first time that they've been aggressive and they've tried to attack and this is the first time that that has happened. So yeah, I think that something should definitely be done about them."

As you may recall, over the past year, coyotes killed two dogs in San Francisco and injured many more. When the city announced that residents could have to learn how to co-exist with the wild animals, many were outraged.

"We don't have a plan to eradicate coyotes obviously," said Joseph Curran, the Daly City Director of Library & Recreation Services. Curran said Daly City will adopt a policy similar to San Francisco and post warning signs,

"Especially for pet owners and maybe parents with small children to be aware of their surroundings especially when they're out early in the morning and at dusk."

In San Francisco, Rec and Park officials secured garbage, and educated people about not littering or feeding the coyotes as well as keeping dogs on a leash.

But critics have voiced that San Francisco hasn't done enough to control the coyote population and have suggested injecting the animals with some kind of birth control.

Daly City officials say they'll discuss the coyote issue at a city council meeting September 27th at 7 pm.
In the meantime, Siomha Concannon says she knows what do if she spots a coyote again, "I think I would scream and shout like ahhhh!! cuz then they'll go away!"

What Concannon described is a technique called hazing used on coyotes so they don't get too comfortable with humans.

But neighbors in Westlake, who live near three major golf courses, the perfect breeding ground for coyotes, say the animals are already "at home" and that the city needs to do more to resolve the issue.