That report from earlier this week of pet Chihuahua named Lola in Middletown having been run down and killed by coyotes appears to have had some errors, the Star-Ledger says today.
The dog was not a Chihuahua but a fox terrier. And going by the paw prints at the scene, the killer was probably not a coyote, but more likely another dog.
The victim was named Lola, though.
From the story:
Police are still urging residents to be wary of coyotes in light of two attacks on children in the Monmouth County community since April. But an investigation by the state Division of Fish and Wildlife indicates a large domestic dog may have been responsible for mauling a smaller dog on Highland Avenue two days ago.
“We’re not saying conclusively that it was not a coyote, but based on what the biologists observed, we think it could have been a domestic animal,” said Darlene Yuhas, a spokeswoman for the Department of Environmental Protection.
The dead dog, now identified as a fox terrier, not a Chihuahua as township officials initially reported, was attacked on its stomach, according to an examination by state biologists. The injuries are similar to those common in fights between domestic dogs rather than in predatory attacks by coyotes, which tend to seize their prey by the neck and head, the biologists said.
Coyotes were initially blamed because the dog’s owner, who witnessed the attack, reported that a coyote seized the animal within seconds after the dog was let out of the house at 4:15 a.m. Police who arrived at the scene also observed two coyotes in the area, township officials said.
But domestic dog tracks, not those of a coyote, were found at the scene, Yuhas said.
