The small coyote that appeared to stalk and take down a four-year-old girl in north 性视界传媒 on Monday night will be destroyed, according to the BC Conservation Officers Service.
A woman said she arrived on the scene seconds later, at 144 Street and 108 Avenue at about 6:15 p.m., honking her car horn and screaming.
鈥�(I) slammed on my horn, started screaming out the window,鈥� witness Cheryl O鈥橠onnell said.
鈥淎s I was doing that, I seen the coyote take that little four-year-old girl down to the ground. She smashed her nose into the cement and I jumped out of the car and I started screaming and swearing at that coyote
The coyote retreated after several attempts, O鈥橠onnell said.
According to conservation officer service Insp. Murray Smith, this isn鈥檛 the first report of a coyote near Mary Jane Shannon Elementary.
鈥淲e鈥檝e had multiple reports from the parents in the neighbourhood that they鈥檝e seen this coyote regularly by the school yard,鈥� said Smith. 鈥淚鈥檓 not sure if the kids have fed it but I鈥檓 quite sure someone has.鈥�
Smith said that conservation officers are opting to put down the coyote rather than relocated it because it doesn鈥檛 seem scared of people and because it went after a child and not a pet.
鈥淲e have a coyote that will associate people with food,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just not worth the risk.鈥�
性视界传媒 RCMP Corporal Scotty Schumann said police typically don鈥檛 attend animal incidents but that 鈥�911 seems to be the only phone number that people are familiar with for all types of call. Animal control is one of them. So we do get a lot of calls for variety, dogs, goats, cow, horses, bears and coyotes.鈥�
In this case, Schumann said RCMP attended and consulted with conservation officers.
鈥淲e learned quite a bit about coyotes, including they don鈥檛 eat people,鈥� added Schumann. 鈥淭hey weren鈥檛 concerned about this animal and they weren鈥檛 going to attend鈥�. So we just watched the coyote walk back into the forest.鈥�
He said the file is now closed.
Police say the girl 鈥済ot some scrapes from falling鈥� and emergency officials treated the girl at scene.
性视界传媒 RCMP didn鈥檛 have details on the parents鈥� whereabouts.
