A coyote is being blamed for cat remains found scattered in the Kitsilano Beach area last week.
Karen Duncan, president of the Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association, told Metro yesterday she believes a coyote is on the loose.
“We all know that there’s a heck of a lot more coyotes here now than there used to be and that’s generally what happens to cats when people never find them,” said Duncan.
So far, there have been coyote sightings, but no proof that one is killing cats. Duncan is urging people to let pets out during the day only and to learn how to react to seeing a coyote. “A lot of cats just disappear. Dogs have been grabbed, or people (with dogs) have been followed,” Duncan claimed.
Phil Dubrulle, co-ordinator of Co-Existing with Coyotes, said the animals stay in areas where they can find food. He’s holding a public seminar sponsored by the Stanley Park ecology centre at Maryhill Elementary School in Port Coquitlam after a child in that city was attacked on a playground by a coyote last summer.
“We tell people to stomp the ground, make yourself look bigger,” said Dubrulle.
He said it’s important to shout “go away coyote,” to alert others there’s an animal around.
“Never run away from a coyote. By not doing anything you are teaching that coyote that we are not to be feared.”
