McKinney Family on Edge After Coyote Sighting, Dog Attack

A McKinney neighborhood is on alert after a coyote killed a family’s dog.

It happened Monday night in the Stone Brooke Crossing neighborhood near Virginia Parkway and Ridge Road.

“It happened in a few seconds,” resident Silvio Mokotov said.

Mokotov was following his 11-year-old daughter and a friend who were walking their dog, Rusty. Rusty saw a coyote, escaped from his leash, and ran right toward it.

“I just heard the dog screaming like really, really, really bad,” Mokotov said.

Severely wounded, Rusty ran into the nearby street. That’s where the saga took a tragic turn.

“And then as soon as he fell in the middle of the street, a car hit him right away,” Mokotov said.

There was nothing they could do to save their beloved pet. Just hours earlier and a few blocks away, neighbors spotted a coyote – presumably the same one – and snapped pictures which they later posted on an online neighborhood message board.

“We were sort of worried because a lot of kids and you know families walk and jog,” Debi Reilly said.

She was with her son Nick when they came across the animal.

“He was just sniffing around, wasn’t scared, wasn’t hesitant of anything,” Nick Reilly said. “A car actually honked and he went about his business.”

A spokesperson for the city of McKinney said it’s received a few calls about a coyote in the area, possibly injured, but hasn’t been able to locate it.

“I believe the city has to take care of it,” Mokotov said.

Mokotov said Rusty died protecting his family.

“I have no question about that,” he said. “For sure he was a complete hero.”

Coyotes in cities are generally looking for food, water or shelter and rarely attack humans, experts say. But such attacks have happened.