HARVEY COUNTY, Kan. It happened fast. One moment, a small Shih Tzu named Mimi was outside on a potty break. The next, she was gone.
Newton resident Sarah Villa says she and her family are heartbroken as she suspects coyotes took off with Mimi.
Villa says it all started about 11 p.m. Saturday when her family came home and let Mimi out. She says she saw a deer run close by, but didn't think much of the animal being startled with so many deer in the area.
It was then, Villa says, she saw a larger, dark grey animal with a bushy tail.
"I yelled to my husband, Luis, 'I think it's a wolf. Get Mimi inside,'" Villa says.
It was dark and Villa says she and her husband couldn't see much as they walked to the other side of their house to where Mimi had run.
They also saw a pack of seven or eight deer chased by a pack of three coyotes, Villa says.
"We called out for Mimi, scared to death. And that's when we heard the horrible screams from Mimi," Villa says. "I was beyond upset at this point, yelling for Mimi, scared. I remember just saying, 'No,' 'No,' over and over again."
As her husband searched for Mimi in a nearby field, Villa says he spooked one of the coyotes that ran into the woods. The other two soon followed.
"Hoping to find (Mimi), my husband ran to get his flashlight from the house," Villa says. "By then, it was very quiet. We searched for her for almost two hours (Saturday) night, walking around the field, and the outer skirts of the wood line, calling for her."
Villa says Mimi was nowhere to be found.
"No body, no collar, nothing," she says. "Not even blood."
Villa says the search for Mimi continued Sunday morning.
"We drove around looking everywhere, and found nothing," she says. "Our family is heartbroken. I feel like I just lost one of my children. Me and Mimi were very close. She was an amazing dog, and great with my girls. She was very loved and showed a lot of love in return."
Villa says she hopes her story can help serve as a warning for other pet owners.
"If we can help in any way to (alert) people of the dangers these coyotes can be, it only takes a second for them to run off with a pet or a small loved one. It is terrifying to think about what could happen," she says. "...This has been a traumatizing experience for all of us, and we just hope no one else has to deal with a situation like this."
***PHOTO COURTESY OF SARAH VILLA***
was found from : http://www.kwch.com/content/news/Owner-of--412602593.html
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