Support Angela's Brave Rescue Pup, Coconut

In the late evening on March 3rd, something terrible happened to a dog we love. This sweet 12 lbs pup named Coconut.

He was violently attacked by a coyote in his fenced yard that left him near death. It was miraculous that he got away/ survived.

I have known Coconut's owner Angela Carnes for a very long time. Angela is a fellow rescue volunteer & foster and has helped more animals over the many years I have known her.......than I could count. She has volunteered with various organizations for at least a decade or more. RescuedMe and Furever Angels Animal Rescue (FAAR) for 12-14 years. She is also a personal friend and my company/team has taken care of her home and animals since 2016. We have personally seen (and cared for) many homeless dogs that have come through her home. She has six small rescue dogs and two rescue cats. We know and love each of them dearly. Coconut was a recent foster fail and had just become part of the family. He is such a happy go lucky and loving pup. He has always enjoyed carelessly zipping around the yard with lightening speed. It's just impossible not to love him.

Coconut sadly sustained grave injuries that has required lengthly emergency and supportive care.

***WARNING GRAPHIC PICS***

He had deep puncture wounds to the neck that required stitches. He had been violently shaken to the point that his skin was separated from the muscle from the top of his neck down his little back. which caused large painful air pockets. The tissue damage caused him to develop a condition called Subcutaneous Emphysema. He had a lot of torn skin and lacerations....and worse, had a large hole in his trachea that was deemed inoperable. Things looked VERY grim for little Coconut...... but he began to improve with treatment and supportive care. He fought hard, and his owner did not want to deny him the chance to live. He was eventually discharged a couple of days ago where he continues to improve. He has a long (and costly) recovery ahead of him.

Like everything else, vet care has gotten very costly. His emergency care vet bill was upwards of $10,000.

Angela would do anything for her animals as they are considered family. I also know this has created a substantial financial burden for her. I'm certain many people have hardships and may be unable to help.

Angela is such a kind and compassionate person. I wanted to put this fundraiser together for her to hopefully help her with some of her veterinary costs she has incurred.

Angela wants to share as a cautionary warning to pet owners. I have included/ shared the information Angela relayed to me from Bill Crowder with Coyotes of the Carolina's if interested. See below.

Bill Crowder with Coyotes in the Carolinas has visited the property and advised on changes for safety. how to make my yard safer for my dogs.

-------------------- Bill Crowder Charlotte, NC - Coyote Attack, Little Coconut, 12 lb (Poodle-Maltese) Survived ! Some of the images are graphic but we did not post the ones that were very graphic of the open wounds. We want our members to know the severity of a very simple attack so as to be prepared to be able to prevent it. After two very difficult weeks, Coconut came home from the hospital. It has been a long two week journey for Coconut and his family. But little Coconut was determined to live. He survived one of the worst attacks, endured the wounds, recuperated in an oxygen kennel, as he was in serious distress with a 6mm tooth hole in his trachea. He had open gashes under his throat and across the back of his neck. The harsh shake did not remove his skin but pulled it away from his body from his neck all the way down his back almost to his tail creating air pockets under the skin (unexposed degloving affect). This area will take longer for the skin to naturalize to his body thus removing the air pockets. Bonnie and I went yesterday to assess this situation as Angela, Coconut's mom, was at a loss with the risks surrounding Coconut and her three other small dogs, after such an attack where she had been outside at midnight with her 4 dogs only seconds before hand. There was nothing unusual about their routine until two dogs wanted back inside. Angela took them in and opened the door to go back out and found Coconut huddled up against the door to come in while her other dog was pacing back and forth on her deck. She scooped Coconut up and took him in to get a look at his wounds and immediately rushed him to the emergency vet for extensive wounds and later to the hospital. His injuries were very serious and we can attest that few survive this level of attack and trauma. For this as a case study, we reviewed all the topo and satellite maps surrounding her home and area. We understood she had a 4 1/2 foot split rail fenced back yard and was surrounded by other homes in her mature neighborhood in the Arboretum area of Charlotte. Some facts we knew were coyotes are mostly focused now on den location and construction subcycles to their pupping cycle. The attack style showed errors by the coyote of a missed grip indicating we probably had a surrogate coyote (2024 pup) responsible for the attack. Had this been the alpha male attacking, I feel the results would surely have been fatal. I feel the results would have been worse as well had the coyote been a year older. When we arrived we first retraced the steps of the encounter (after two weeks), we analyzed the property for vantage points, and hiding locations. We can fairly well assure this coyote did not just happen on this little dog. This coyote was apparently hunting alone trying to feed the alpha female while she was busy. I feel sure the coyote knew the dogs would be coming outside at this time of night and was prepared since the encounter was only seconds after the group was working their way back inside. It waited until Coconut became separated from most of the group, allowing for the attack. It turns out there is a neighbor sharing the back fenced part of the yard that also has a small dog that goes outside about this time of night. So I am not sure that Coconut was the actual target of the encounter, but was surely the victim. During the search we covered the surrounding areas to the yard. We searched a couple of hundred yards away (lake, creek, and ridge tops) to find the coyote activity. We found one large set of tracks and one small set of coyote tracks. The deer sign in the area showed them being very nervous. We found multiple locations where coyotes had climbed her fence. Just before leaving I went under her deck as it felt suspicious to me. Under the deck I found one location of a depressed area under her door of her house with part of a fresh deceased bird with licked feathers right beside a coyote scat pile (approx 2 weeks old). Since the scat was about 1/2" in diameter, it was surely from a small coyote since this is the month of March and no new pups yet this year. This also could imply an inexperienced coyote if this was the one responsible for the attack. I think Angela was able to get several tips on how to protect her dogs such as fence extensions or coyote arms over the current fence. She is considering building a fence within a fence for her dogs to be able to be safe when outside. She is closing all access under out buildings and decks. We also met with several of Angela's neighbors to gain information, warn of the circumstances surrounding the attack on Coconut, and provide quick & simple tips to avoid encounters. We are so thankful for the sparing of Coconut's life. He is 12 lbs of a fun & "loving of life", little dog ! He has much more life to live! Be Alert, Be Knowledgeable, Be Safe. Carolina Coyote - Bill Crowder ps. Don't drop your guard during this cycle due to the stealth attacks on pets. You can see in this encounter that this coyote was anticipating these dogs and waiting for an opportunity to get one of her 4 small dogs separated from the others for a stealth attack within the 10 second rule and with Angela being outside only seconds before the attack.

I’ve been a volunteer with , and have fostered and adopted lots and lots of dogs over that time. I have a large fenced back yard with lots of natural areas, and I’m posting this as a cautionary warning to everyone who has small pets!

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