A San Francisco resident is still in shock over the sudden death of her chihuahua.
Tiarra Najera said she was standing feet away from her dog Thursday when two coyotes ran off with who she calls a member of the family.
"They grabbed her, and they just started dragging her," Najera said. "By the time I get to the end of the block they’d taken her up the hill."
Najea’s 12-year-old reindeer chihuahua Catherina was out doing her business right in front of the family’s Chenery Street home when coyotes grabbed her and took off.
The owner and her daughter Aleiah frantically searched for her by car and found nothing.
"My daughter found her blood, and that’s how I knew she didn’t make it," Najera said.
The family grieved all weekend, then a call came on Monday.
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"They'd found a small dog’s head in Glen Park. In the canyon. I went, and it was her," Najera said, adding Catherina was like her baby.
"We would all play on the bed together, we always did the funnest things altogether," daughter Aleiah said.
The Humane Society recommends coyote hazing if anyone and their dog encounters a coyote. To be loud and large, maybe keep a whistle or air horn with them.
"You can’t let them out of your sight for one moment, not one minute, not anything," Najera said. "Be careful."
Najera says she plans to cremate the remains of Catharina and hopefully find closure to this trauma.
