An Orland Park couple is warning their neighbors about dangerous coyotes in the area after they say their dog was abducted and killed by one.
“We saw the coyote prints and we both knew (our dog) was gone,” said Susan O’Brien, holding back tears.
Late on Dec. 8, her husband, Stephen, opened the door to let their 12-year-old Yorkie, Ziggy, out for a walk. In the time he took to grab a flashlight and coat, the dog was gone.
“He literally turned away for one second and he was gone,” Susan O’Brien said.
Ziggy was always very friendly with other animals and may have ran up to a coyote down the street, she said.
“Maybe he thought the coyote was going to be his friend,” Susan O’Brien said.
Stephen O’Brien ran to the spot where the attack occurred and saw coyote prints and scratch marks in the snow. He tried to follow them but could not, he said.
Three days later police found Ziggy’s body in a neighbor’s yard about a block in the opposite direction.
Now the couple says they’ve become overprotective of their two remaining Yorkies, Cassie, 6, and Lily, 2.
Whenever they take them for a walk, Susan O’Brien said, they make sure they have everything they need before they open the door. One of them stands in front of the dogs while the other stands behind them.
“We just want to get the word out so this doesn’t happen to other people,” Susan O’Brien said.
Coyotes have become very prevalent in their neighborhood, the Square of Orland, near the Orland Square Mall, the couple said. And the neighborhood has become devoid of rabbits, squirrels and other small animals as a result, Stephen O’Brien said.
He said he knows some neighbors who have fed coyotes because they felt sorry for them, he said. He’s asked them to stop.
Susan O’Brien said coyotes, which are typically nocturnal, have been seen in the neighborhood during the day and their veterinarian, Dr. John Fleming, has posted a video on his website showing a coyote casually walking in the area in front of houses during the day.
The O’Briens said they’ve reached out to village officials to see if anything can be done about the coyotes but have yet to receive a response.
Frank Vaisvilas is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.