Little Doggie on the Mend

Dog recovering after unknown predator's attack
By Donna Porstner 04/12/2008

STAMFORD - The Lhasa Apso attacked by a wild animal in his North Stamford back yard early Sunday is back home with his owners and regaining his strength.

Rascal was released Wednesday from a Norwalk animal hospital, where he received around-the-clock care.

"He's pretty slow, and he sleeps a lot - and he looks really awful - but he's moving along," his owner Lynne Stone said. "He just kind of moves from one soft spot to another."

Rascal, who is 13 - 91 in dog years - is taking five medications, one for pain, one anti-inflammatory drug, plus antibiotics.

"He's just like a little old man," Stone said.

The pooch had been outside for about 10 minutes when Stone noticed he had gone missing at about 5 a.m. Sunday. She and her husband, Ted, found him hours later bleeding from the neck in a wooded area behind their home on South Lake Drive. From the puncture wounds on his neck, they presume a coyote picked up the 18-pound dog and dragged him there.

"I am amazed he's made it. He must have a pretty strong little will in there," Stone said. "He thanks everyone for their well wishes."

The Stones received phone calls from strangers concerned about the dog after a story about the attack appeared in The Advocate.

Coyote attacks on pets have become more prevalent in lower Fairfield County in the past 10 years, state environmental officials said.

In 2003, Kathie Lee and Frank Gifford's 15-year-old Bichon Frise, Chardonnay, was killed by a coyote in the back
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yard of their Greenwich home.

Chris Vann, a wildlife biologist for the state Department of Environmental Protection, said coyote attacks on pets have become more common with suburban sprawl and the movement of coyotes into established residential neighborhoods.

"We sometimes field several calls a week, and this problem has been increasing over the last decade," Vann said.

Pet owners are urged not to leave food outside because it attracts coyotes, and they are warned not to leave dogs unattended in the dark.

"People may live in an area for years and never suspect their yard is a potential hunting ground," Vann said.