A plastic cone around 11-year-old Paige's head is a reminder she narrowly escaped with her life. When the pup's owner looked out the window into the backyard late Thursday morning in South Windsor - Keira Ledoux saw a coyote ready to pounce.
"I jumped up without thinking, and I ran out to the deck, grabbed a bat, and started screaming," said Ledoux. "It had her by the head, the top of the head, dropped her, and ran into the woods."
The Bluetick Beagle mix was rushed to the vet where she got stitches on one side of her head and a drain on the other.
"The vet said she was extremely lucky. If I was out there one or two seconds later the coyote would have killed her," said Ledoux.
South Windsor Police say coyotes attacking pets is not unusual for the area and that they receive a handful of cases reported every year.
On the town's animal control website, they warn residents not to leave pets outside unattended, and if you come across a coyote you should act aggressively and make loud noises.
A bat now rests by the Ledoux's door just in case and Paige scoops up snow with her recovery cone in the front yard instead of the back.
"We're scared to go out into our own yard, so we have to bring a bat to protect us," said Ledoux.
She says a much larger dog was also attacked recently, and that has her wondering if it'll escalate further.
"I have a three-year-old. If coyotes are attacking 70 pound dogs, what's to say they're not going to attack a 30 pound three-year-old?"
Police say no children have been attacked, and if a coyote goes after your pet to call animal control.
