Coyote attack on dog in Liberty Village leaves woman shaken

A Toronto woman fears coyotes are becoming more brazen in the city after one attacked her dog right outside her home in Liberty Village last week. 

Bianca Tedesco was walking her dog, London, last Monday night at around 9 p.m. 

When she approached her front door, a coyote sprung out of the bushes and attacked her dog. 

The attack happened so fast, Tedesco said she didn't realize what was going on until she heard London yelp. 

Thankfully, Tedesco says she was able to push the coyote off her dog and frighten the animal away. 

Tedesco said she's used to seeing and hearing about coyotes in the neighborhood, but never would have expected one to attack her near her front door. 

"There are so many coyotes in the area that we're all very scared that something would happen, but it's almost too close for comfort, the fact that it happened right outside my house."

Her neighbour Jamie Fine said coyote sightings seem to be becoming more frequent. What happened to Tedesco makes him nervous for his own dog. 

"How do we know the dog park's gonna be safe? how do we know the sidewalk, walking out your front door is gonna be safe? It's not the best."

Toronto Animal Services Director Esther Attard said the city is aware of a few similar incidents in the neighbourhood and held a community meeting last Tuesday to answer residents' questions and concerns. 

This time of year is dispersal season for coyotes where coyote pups are setting out on their own for the first time, which may be contributing to the increase in sightings, she said. 

At the same time, Attard said the city has received reports of people feeding coyotes, which is a major factor in coyotes becoming habituated to humans and something the city is trying to discourage. 

"It's really important that everybody is consistent with trying to provide aversion conditioning to these coyotes," she said. 

This isn't the first time coyotes have become a cause for concern for people in the city.