Death of 2nd Dog Points to Coyotes’ Urban Invasion

Another dog has been found partially skinned in the same Encino block where Pal the pug met his controversial demise in April. But animal-control officials are not only convinced that the killer was a coyote, they say the death exemplifies the way coyotes have moved out of the hills and into densely urban Valley neighborhoods.

Luke, an 11-pound Italian greyhound, was found dead in the backyard of his owners’ home last Friday just days after the family moved from the Westside.

Animal-control officials are positive that it was a coyote that did the deed--not the cruel humans many animal lovers blamed for Pal’s death in a dispute that dragged in the Los Angeles City Council.

Luke’s death in an area north of Ventura Boulevard shows how coyotes are traveling beyond the Santa Monica Mountains neighborhoods where they have long been a fixture and into the most urban areas of the Valley floor, officials said.

“What the coyotes are doing now is they are actually living in this community,” said Dennis Kroeplin, wildlife specialist for the city Department of Animal Control and Regulation.

“They have found places to hide in the area. There are numerous homes on large lots that are vacant and up for sale, and the coyotes are moving in. They are finding plenty of cats and small dogs available as a new form of food. And [pets] are much easier to catch than a [wild] rabbit.”

Animal-regulation officials are aware of 22 incidents involving coyotes in the urban area of Encino north of Ventura Boulevard and south of the Ventura Freeway in just the past four months, compared to 39 incidents in all of the previous six years. That translates into a tenfold increase in the rate of incidents, from an average of one every other month to more than five incidents a month.

“Coyotes north of Ventura Boulevard is beginning to be a trend,” said Peter Persic, spokesman for the animal regulation department. “They are using the drainage culverts and flood-control systems to move around.”

An infiltration of coyotes also is being noted in West Hills and Woodland Hills, including the area around Fallbrook Mall, Kroeplin said. At least another 20 incidents, including mutilated pets and coyote sightings, have been reported in that area since April.

The animals have been seen traveling several miles along the Bell Creek channel from west of Valley Circle Boulevard to the mall neighborhood.

“Those are flatlands where we normally would not expect to find a coyote,” said Kroeplin, who is the department’s only wildlife expert. “They crawl under or jump over the fence lining the channel and start looking for cats and dogs.”

Animal regulation officials say coyotes are also migrating into urban neighborhoods from central wildlife areas, such as the Sepulveda Basin recreation area. A well-used pathway between the basin and the Santa Monica Mountains is along Hayvenhurst Avenue through an underpass at the Ventura Freeway.

“The majority of coyote complaints have always been from the foothill areas,” he said. “Very, very seldom would I get calls from the flatlands. Now we want to get the public to be aware that just because they live in a flatland, they are not necessarily in an area that is safe from coyotes.”

That was the lesson Luke’s owners, Arthur and Olga Akopian, learned the hard way.

“We had no idea that coyotes might be in this area,” said Olga Akopian. “I thought to myself that this is a long way from the mountains.”

She said she and her husband kept 3-year-old Luke indoors when they lived in Bel-Air, but in Encino they felt they were far enough from coyote habitat to put their 11-month-old daughter to sleep in the stroller in the backyard in the evenings.

“I don’t take her out anymore, I am so scared,” Olga said.

Luke’s death followed by four months that of Pal, a pug owned by Avis Wilkinson of Encino, which brought an outpouring of indignation from animal lovers, including some celebrities and the SPCA, who contended that Pug had been skinned with a knife.

The activists and the City Council amassed a reward fund of $26,000 for information leading to the arrest of the sadistic person or people they believed to be responsible for the mutilation. No suspect has been found and $10,000 of the reward was withdrawn by its anonymous donor in July.

Animal-control officials insisted all along that the pug’s death was the work of a coyote that pulled the skin off the dog’s back, creating a sharply edged wound that misled observers into thinking the skin had been sliced with a knife.

Luke was killed in a similar way, said Dr. Dena Mangiamele, chief veterinarian for the city department, who performed necropsies on both dogs.

“The skin tear was smooth, exactly like Pal,” she said.

Both Pal and Luke were left in backyards overnight at houses just 11 doors apart in the 16600 block of Morrison Street.

The 4-year-old Pal weighed 35 pounds, substantially more than Luke, who belonged to a breed of greyhounds that are not as big or fast as their racetrack cousins.

A pet cat was killed on the same block in July and residents have reported numerous sightings of coyotes, including a pair that appear to be mates traveling during the day, which indicates they live in the vicinity, Kroeplin said.

While the predators generally hunt alone, they sometimes prowl in family units in the late summer and fall, with both parents together trailed by four or five pups. A pack of coyotes on the hunt can kill animals as large as deer, sheep and goats, he said.

Coyote pups mature quickly, and those born this year are expected to be looking for their own territory within the next few months. They sometimes travel 10 to 15 miles in search of new turf.

The animal-control department has published a pamphlet explaining tactics to deter coyotes. Although they have been known to attack dogs weighing up to 45 pounds, a large, aggressive dog is still one of the best deterrents for keeping coyotes out of backyards, Kroeplin said.

Kroeplin also inspects properties to suggest ways to stop invaders. He is stationed at the East Valley animal shelter in North Hollywood and can be reached at (818) 756-8445.