Shanna Blackburn and her family are still holding onto a glimmer of hope their dog Blue will return home.
Two weeks ago, two of the Blackburns’ four dogs took off into the bush near their Silver Falls Road home. Their bullmastiff-cross Shooter returned two hours later covered in blood and what appeared to be puncture wounds. Their Australian blue heeler, Blue, never came home.
“We’ve been hearing what I thought were dogs barking for the past couple of weeks and the odd howling and that,” Blackburn told tbnewswatch.com.
“It seemed like nothing out of the ordinary. Being out in the country, we’re kind of used to that.”
Blackburn believes her dogs were attacked by either wolves or coyotes.
About two months ago, when out with her horses she said she noticed one horse was acting strange.
“I took her for a walk around to the back of our arena and there was a coyote standing at the back of the arena. I got within 15 feet of it and it wasn’t scared of me at all,” she said.
Another coyote was spotted in their front yard just two nights ago.
Blackburn owns three horses, two pigs, five cats and four dogs, including the missing Blue.
While she’s worried about her animals, she’s even more worried about her two-year-old daughter.
“I’ve been worried about her playing outside. She’s two and she’s fast. I watch her as best as I can but she’s a quick little thing when she wants to be,” she said. “It’s what every parent would worry about.”
Blackburn doesn’t know what to do to ensure the safety of her family and their pets.
However, as of Friday she hadn’t yet reported the incident to the Ministry of Natural Resources.
Conservation officer Ross Johnston said if anyone encounters a wolf or coyote, they should contact the MNR and an officer will come out and show them what they can do to protect their property.
Also, if a person encounters a wolf, leave it an escape route. If it continues to approach you, act aggressively towards the animal, yelling and even throwing things at it.
Johnston said that while wolf attacks on pets are not a common occurrence, there have always been wolves out there.
“The wolf population has increased in the area in response to the growth in the deer population,” he said, adding the deer population has increased because of recent mild winters.”
One concerning fact is that wolves are showing less signs of avoiding humans.
“They are usually very shy and avoid humans,” said Johnston. “That safety zone is still there; it’s just shrunk.”
The MNR is encouraging people to keep their dogs close to home and under supervision.
“Their primary prey is still deer, but they are opportunistic; if someone’s dog is there and if they think they can take it, that’s when dogs get lost,” Johnston said.
