WINTER PARK, Fla. — A Winter Park man’s dog was killed by a pack of wild coyotes Monday, police said.
Christopher Sullivan told officers that his wife let the dog, a morkie named Walle, out in their fenced in yard on Lander Road about 9 a.m.
When the dog didn’t return to the back door, his wife and neighbors walked around the property.
"We were all looking for him," resident Mike Emerson said. "Calling out his name. Going up and down the streets."
The searchers ran into a maintenance worker for the adjoining retirement community to Sullivan’s home who had some bad news.
The worker said he tried to save the dog from a coyote and two pups, but was unsuccessful.
The coyotes killed the dog and ran back into a wooded area, the man said.
Sullivan told police he believes the dog escaped from the yard through a burrow that sometimes forms after heavy rain.
Emerson was devastated by the news about Walle.
"It's hard," he said. "It's difficult and I hope there's something that we can do about it as a community."
Sullivan said he called Orange County Animal Services and was told he would have to hire private trappers if he wanted the coyotes caught.
He told police he was concerned about the safety of his children.
Emerson was also concerned, noting the increasing number of signs of the animals in the area.
"I have seen just a shadow at night, something leaping over the fence, so I know it was a rather large animal," he said. "I'm very concerned for the smaller dogs, for sure, because I know that they're easy prey."