According to a King County Sheriff’s Office incident report, on June 21, 2019 at 3:10AM a KCSO deputy responded to a home in the Alpine Estates neighborhood of North Bend after two dog were found dead in their yard.
The deputy reported that it appeared the dogs had been bitten by ‘some type of large animal,’ but the animal was not found. The report stated a ‘large paw print’ was found in the yard and that the owner would call the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) to investigate further.
According to DFW officers at the scene Friday morning, based on the size of the prints, they believe a coyote or a domestic dog killed the small dogs. The officers also set up a camera in case the animal returns.
An early morning post on a North Bend Facebook group originally stated that a cougar was responsible for the dogs’ deaths in their fenced backyard, but the post was later updated with the DFW’s determination that it was a canine responsible.
The Alpine Estates neighborhood is located near I-90 exit 32, off of 436th Ave SE.
Comments
I would say it was a dog. Coyote more than likely would have taken at least one of them to eat.
Not necessarily! Coyotes are territorial and will kill any other 4-legged creature they deem a thereat to their territory. This is why we had a “SHOOT on site” for Coyotes in Texas. There they travel in large packs, unlike here where I have seen many and all have been alone. 2 notable differences I have noticed with Coyotes around the Snoqualmie Valley. 1: they are significantly larger than others I have seen in other states. 2: They are not scared of humans, every one I have encountered here has stood and watched me like it was entertained. Ones in other states would flee at the site of a human. It was unheard of for Domestic Dogs to be attacked in neighborhoods and people’s own yards in town. Most dogs that were attacked had ventured off into the woods and encroached a packs territory.
Keeping pets in at night is important to their well being. We are surrounded by wildlands with plenty of hungry predators. Some time ago when I lived out by exit 34 (only 1 exit away from Alpine Estates) we let our cat out after a snow and it was leaning up against the sluder watching birds when a wolf came out of the watershed and hit the glass trying to nab the cat. The cat took off across the yard with the black wolf at it’s heels until the cat went up a tree. We called Dept of Wildlife in Mill Creek and they came out and identified the wolf’s tracks which had a span of 5″. They set up infra red cameras and indicated that they had been studying the wolves which came out of Cedar River Watershed and Rattlesnake Lake area.
If you love your pets letting them outside without a leash puts them at risk.