A coyote snatched a woman's dog in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, on Thursday, police said, the second dog to be taken by a coyote in the area this week.
Hopkinton police urged the public to take care when walking on local trails after the incident on Thursday, in which the coyote took one if a woman's dogs while they were on the walk. They said people should use particular caution on the Whisper Way, yellow and red trails of the Cameron Woods, near Whitehall Reservoir.
"We feel horrible this happened to someone's fur buddy, they are members of the family and are a tremendous loss when we lose them," police said, noting that an officer helped the woman try to find the snatched dog.
The coyote attack comes a day after a dog was snatched in nearby Milford. That dog, named Guido, was taken from Pine Island Road while with its owner and is presumed dead, local police said Wednesday.
"We are asking residents in the area who have smaller pets to be more vigilant when letting their pets out," Milford police said in a Facebook post. "Dawn and dusk are optimal hunting times for Coyotes."
Milford is one town south of Hopkinton in Boston's MetroWest area.
Hopkinton police shared a series of tips for staying coyote-vigilant, including keeping dogs on-leash, carrying a walking stick, making noise while walking and yelling to scare off any coyotes in an encounter.
Coyotes have been a concern in numerous Massachusetts communities of late, including Fall River, where a rabid coyote that mauled a woman and attacked several other people had to be put down on Monday. A dog was also killed by a coyote in Boston's Jamaica Plain neighborhood earlier this month.
