After a coyote attack on her dog in broad daylight, a Thousand Oaks woman who lives in a home next door to open space fears for the safety of her small grandchildren.

As Jill Jensen tells it, her husband, Del, was standing on his family’s back patio a couple of months ago with Sophia, a 1year-old Shih Tzu, when two coyotes came into the yard and snatched the small dog. As they ran off with her, one holding her middle and the other her hindquarters, the tall man took chase.

“He ran down the hill after them shouting, and they dropped her,” said Jill Jensen.

Sophia sustained several puncture wounds, cuts and scrapes, from which she’s now recovering. But the dog no longer wants to go outside. She’s traumatized and so is Jill Jensen.

“With hungry coyotes out there, I will not let my grandchildren play in our yard even though an adult would always be supervising them. When they visit and want to go outside, we go elsewhere,” she said.

“She’s absolutely correct. There’s good reason to be very concerned about coyotes going after small humans,” said City Councilmember Dennis Gillette.

Gillette, a resident of Thousand Oaks for 46 years and former Thousand Oaks police chief, said the continued dry spell has forced animals to leave surrounding open space and national park areas to seek food and water––often in close proximity to humans.

“Our open space is the natural habitat for wild animals— mountain lions, coyotes, bobcats and even bears—and we must be cautious,” Gillette said.

California Department of Fish and Game spokesperson Harry Morse agreed.

“There were three different incidents last year in Southern California where toddlers were bit by coyotes,” he said.

Nobody keeps track of the dogs or cats attacked or taken by coyotes, Morse said, but the local fish and game office in Ventura gets lots of calls about predators. Some report dogs being taken from owners who had them on leashes. One owner had his dog in his arms when a coyote attacked it, Morse said.

The minute a coyote goes after a human, fish and game officers become involved, he said. If someone notices a coyote watching a toddler outside or circling any human, for example, they should immediately report it to fish and game at (909) 484-0167. Any immediate danger or emergency should be reported to local police.

“We don’t come out and relocate. We kill the coyotes,” Morse said.

A city can decide to not wait until the coyotes attack a person to determine there’s a public safety issue. Recently, a city in the Los Angeles area hired a company authorized by fish and game to remove certain coyotes that were threatening the public, Morse said.

“We don’t keep any records of dogs or cats being attacked by coyotes in the city, but it’s not that unusual for small pets like dogs to be attacked,” said Greg Smith, city senior environmental planner.

Coyotes are very smart, adaptive and for the most part fearless, he said.

Councilmember Claudia Bill-de la Peña, a Conejo Open Space Conservation Agency board member, said it might be wise to consider some kind of monitoring system to keep track of coyote attacks on pets in Thousand Oaks.

Morse said sometimes citizens go to City Council meetings and ask for assistance from their city leaders if they feel threatened by coyotes.

“It’s a difficult issue. Some people feel threatened, and others feel like coyotes are their pets and are wonderful to have nearby,” Morse said.

Even those who love to see coyotes in their yards should remember they’re wild animals that shouldn’t be fed, either on purpose or unintentionally, by leaving pet food outside, he said.

For more tips on living alongside wild animals, visit www.keepmewild.com.