Southern California family's dog recovering after vicious coyote attack

An 18-pound Chihuahua terrier mix named Sammy is recovering at the vet after being mauled by a coyote over the weekend at his owner’s Shadow Hills home in an attack that was caught on surveillance cameras.  

The terrifying ordeal occurred Sunday morning around 10 a.m., according to Sammy’s owner, Vickie Sampson, who said she happened to be looking out the window to check the clouds when she saw the coyote with her beloved 14-year-old dog’s neck in its mouth.  

She said she banged on the second-floor window and flew down the stairs to get outside and scare the wild animal off. 

Sampson’s home security cameras captured the coyote on what appears to be the side of their property, creeping up the driveway, pausing and then moving toward an entry of the home where Sammy was.  

From another angle, the coyote is seen stalking the dog from behind a bush before rushing toward Sammy just out of view of the camera’s view.  

Moments later, the coyote is seen pulling the struggling and whimpering Sammy down the path by his neck.  

That’s when Sampson said she shook a jug full of rocks to make a lot of noise and the coyote dropped the 14-year-old dog, jumped over the fence and ran off.  

The Shadow Hills homeowner, who said there are lots of coyotes around her home, but that she’s never seen one that early in the morning, rushed Sammy to the emergency vet.  

“He did have two puncture wounds because the coyote grabbed him around the neck dragged him,” Sampson explained. “No broken bones, but he might have a puncture in his trachea. He hasn’t eaten anything because it probably hurts to swallow.”  

Fortunately, Sammy is expected to be okay, though Sampson said the vet wants to monitor him for another night due to the bruising on his trachea.  

A GoFundMe campaign has been organized to help Sampson defray the cost of Sammy’s mounting medical expenses as a result of the attack.