MESA, AZ — A child is in a hospital after being bitten by a coyote while playing in the front yard of a Mesa home Friday morning.
Mesa police say they were called around 9 a.m. to the Morrison Ranch Park area for a coyote attack.
When officers arrived, they found a 4-year-old, identified by family as Blair, who had been bitten by the coyote.
The child was taken to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries.
ABC15 spoke with the father of 4-year-old Blair. He tells us Blair is in good spirits and has received stitches for her injury.
”Blair screamed once, she came inside and said, I just got bit by a dangerous animal,” said Jordan Brough, Blair's father.
After stitches, Blair is said to be in good spirits. And Dad says she never even cried.
The coyote was later put down by a Mesa police officer.
Alexandra Flickinger, with the Arizona Game and Fish Department, says the coyote is now being taken to the state lab for DNA and rabies testing.
”We also collected the small child’s clothes so when we get that DNA information, hopefully make a match and confirm we’ve gotten the offending coyote,” said Flickinger.
Game and Fish reports there have been 24 coyote attacks on people in the past 26 years in the Phoenix metro area. That includes two toddlers in Scottsdale who were bitten back in March.
What’s more common, we’re told, is a coyote attacking a pet. Game and Fish officials say if you encounter one, you can wave your arms and make loud noises.
”We tell people who live in areas where they would frequent a coyote to carry a walking stick,” said Flickinger.
