HALIFAX -- A Halifax woman is heartbroken after her small dog was killed in her own backyard by what she believes was a coyote.
"He was like a little baby really," said Ann Marie Skinner. "He was attached to me wherever I went, everything he did I was there."
Skinner is trying to remember better days spent with her dog of nine years, Sebastian.
Early Friday morning she let Sebastian of the house so he could go to the bathroom.
"And I went back into the house for at least five minutes, and when I come out I pulled up the leash and he wasn't there, the collar was, but he wasn't there," Skinner said. "Never did I think something was going to get him here."
Skinner went to her backyard where she made a terrible discovery.
"Back there, there were like four spots of blood, and cartilage," Skinner said.
Later in the evening, Skinner heard what she believed to be coyotes howling behind her home in the Spryfield area of Halifax.
"I know we have a little wooded area, but I thought no way that would never happen here, with the humans being so close by," Skinner said.
Typically, coyotes are shy around people and tend to be more vocal at night and when it is dark.
In Nova Scotia, coyote activity is more common during the winter than any other time of year.
"You have still young pups dispersing, also mated pairs are into sort of territorial maintenance mode, they're more active," said Butch Galvez, a wildlife biologist with the Nova Scotia Lands and Forestry Department.
No matter the time of year, officials say cats and small dogs are most vulnerable to a coyote attack.
"Certainly if you have a small pet, it's very important to supervise your small pet. When we see negative sorts of interaction with wildlife, it's usually with a small pet," Galvez said.
Skinner is warning anybody who may have a small pet to never leave them alone outdoors.
"Not even for a couple minutes because within that five, my dog was gone," Skinner said.
That's something Skinner doesn't want to happen to any other pet.
