When Karen Muccino, 51, a resident of Rossmoor, returned home from the hospital after complications from open heart surgery, she expected a restful recovery. Little did she know that within 7 hours, she’d have the heart stopping shock of her life.

It was about 4:00 Sunday morning and Muccino had taken her small dog, Coco, out to the back porch–

“I walked out with her and turned the porch light on. She turned the corner at the end of the porch, which is about 8 feet from the door,” Muccino told OC180NEWS. “All of a sudden, there was a commotion. She was screaming. I never heard anything like it in my life. I started screaming and she ran back toward me. I picked her up. She was bleeding from both shoulders.”

Muccino didn’t get a clear look at the attacker, but when she took Coco to the vet the next day, the indication was a coyote attack.

“Coco had turned to the left, and then from the right, I saw a shadow of an animal that appeared to look like a coyote,” Muccino said. “But, I had it confirmed from the vet that the type of wounds she had were definitely coyote.”

Muccino and Coco, a 13 pound Bichon/toy poodle mix, were lucky. Perhaps the screaming scared off the attacker, and Coco ended up with non-life threatening wounds. The little dog was in surgery for several hours, and is now at home recovering. But, the shock of the attack will last much longer.

“It was horrifying,” said Muccino. “I can barely even describe the sound that came out of the little mouth of my sweetest-dog-ever.”

Muccino’s back yard on Donnie Ann, is surrounded by a six foot fence. But even such a fence will not keep coyotes out. Since she doesn’t keep any attractants in her yard, such as pet food or a water dish, she thought the attack was more likely a result of the coyote passing by at the wrong time, rather than habitual predatory behavior.

“Two doors down there are two black stray cats,” Muccino said. “One of them has been missing for a few months, so the assumption is the coyote got him. There’s a person a couple of doors down that feeds the remaining stray cat. I’m just assuming the coyote came back because it got something there before.”

Muccino was lucky because, just recovering from her open heart surgery, she was not hurt in the attack and she got her beloved dog back. Not all residents of Rossmoor are so lucky.

“I informed Karen that she was very lucky the coyote retreated easily. As you may recall, Diane Jenkins actually had to fight the coyote off with a chair after screaming for her dog,” said Rebecca Lara, of the Rossmoor Predator Management Team. “Please, when entering your yard at night or early morning, turn on lights, carry a stick, enter the yard first and observe for any wildlife, then bring your dog outside. NEVER LEAVE YOUR CHILDREN OR PETS OUTSIDE UNATTENDED.”

Muccino, who has a medical back ground, realized how close the call was for Coco.

“I was very, very lucky because the puncture wounds didn’t hit her bones, or any major organ, or arteries, so she’s almost back to her regular little self –very skittish though,” Muccino told us.

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About Dolores Barr, Publisher

Dolores Barr has lived in Rossmoor since 1992 and has created this site to provide local news for the people of Los Alamitos, Seal Beach, Rossmoor, Leisure World, Sunset Beach, and Surfside, California. My husband and I have had two students graduate from the Los Alamitos Unified School District and currently our Grandson, Ricky Apodaca, grade 3 at Weaver Elementary, is actively involved in youth baseball through LAYB and youth football through FNL.

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