Town hall meeting to address spate of coyote attacks in downtown Toronto

As residents of two downtown Toronto neighbourhoods say city efforts have failed to reduce a spate of coyote attacks on pet dogs, a local councillor is hosting a public meeting Thursday to hear their concerns and come up with a long-term safety plan.

A group of people from the communities of Fort York and Liberty Village in downtown Toronto, calling themselves the Coyote Safety Coalition, say they've recorded over 40 attacks since November.

They say the city has helped address the issue with bylaw patrols, but it's not enough.

"We urgently call for a comprehensive and sustainable action plan to address this issue permanently," the coalition said in a Feb. 11 letter signed by Ruby Kooner, a Liberty Village resident who says her dog died after a coyote attack in November.

"Residents remain deeply concerned as fear continues to rise, particularly at night," the letter says.

City staff told CBC Toronto that they received 64 service requests related to coyotes in the area in January, including three bites and two attacks on dogs.

The city has had bylaw officers monitoring coyote activity in the area since November and is offering public guidance on how to keep safe and prevent coyote encounters, according to animal services. That includes, keeping dogs on-leash, making noise and being assertive in the event of an encounter.

Toronto's animal services director Esther Attard says most coyote encounters involve off-leash dogs, and the city is working to maintain safety while allowing wildlife to co-exist peacefully with people in the communities.

"If animal behaviour changes in a way that affects public safety, we will take a range of further actions after assessing all options available," she said.

But members of the Coyote Safety Coalition say that coyotes are remaining aggressive, even when people follow the city's guidelines.

The community coalition says Monday evening alone, six pet dogs in the area were attacked by coyotes. Ann Selvanayagam's five-year-old terrier-mix, Gregorio, was one of them.

The Liberty Village woman says she was wearing a hands-free leash when she took Gregorio just outside her building at night so he could have a quick pee. She says a coyote came out of nowhere while she was distracted by a noise and tried to carry Gregorio away in its teeth.

"I'm screaming and I'm kicking at the coyote to let go," she said, but the coyote held on. She said the coyote stayed aggressive even as four other dog owners came to her aid. It finally relented when a large man arrived and scared it away.

Gregorio received stitches for the attack, and Selvanayagam says she got a $1,300 vet bill. She says it's shaken both of them.