Photo: X17online
The Osbournes -- father Ozzy, mom Sharon, daughter Kelly and son Jack --- documented their lives in a hit reality television show and famously shared their sprawling mansion with their numerous dogs. "I've got 18 dogs now," Ozzy once said, revealing to reporters his wife's habit of collecting stray dogs. "We get them from the pound now. When I get home it's like I've got four new dogs."
Though he may grumble about them, Ozzy has a soft spot for the pooches. In 2003, he saved one of their tiny pups, a black teacup Pomeranian named Pippy, from a coyote attack in their backyard. Describing the incident on her website at the time, Sharon wrote that Pippy was "viciously attacked by a Coyote and wrenched from it's [sic] serrated jaw by a terrified, but brave Ozzy." Sadly, their black Chihuahua Lulu wasn't so lucky and was killed by a coyote, prompting the Osbournes to throw poisoned chicken over their backyard fence in an attempt to exterminate the coyotes. It didn't work.
"Sharon and Ozzy love their dogs to bits," the Sun reports a source as saying. "It's like losing a family member. They are both devastated."
How common are coyote attacks on small dogs? It's rare, but (obviously) not unheard of. In Washington state, where a man's five-pound dog was killed by a coyote last month, Fish and Wildlife experts caution pet owners to "limit potential food sources, [and] keep pet food dishes inside and keep your pets on a short leash."
Sharon adopted Little Bit from Last Chance for Animals after falling in love with the Yorkshire Terrier. Watch video of Sharon and Little Bit (at 2:20) below.
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This is so sad. We need to watch our pets like they are toddlers.. especially in areas where there are coyotes and other predators. Wild animals are trying to survive, and they see our pets as part of the food chain. :-(
Too bad the cyote didn't eat Ozzie also!
It's not only coyotes and others. In the central part of North Carolina there is a great increase in copperheads. I know they are not going to eat the dogs but the bites can be fatal especially for smaller breeds. Our Jack Russell was bitten by one and we almost lost her. Also, the vet bill to save our dog was almost $3000. Keep in mind, it is not just a rural thing. We live in urban Raleigh, North Carolina. Also, keep in mind that the Invisible Fence, which we have, Keeps your pet in the yard but not others out.
Duh! What is the matter with people that they leave their dogs unattended in their back yards? Especially little dogs who cannot fight off larger predators like hungry coyotes. Dogs are not some backyard toy; they need to live with their owners inside, safe and secure and left out only to go potty or sniff around the yard for awhile and taken for daily walks. And when they are outside in the yard to spend a little time and go potty, they need to be watched. Before people choose to get a dog they cannot welcome inside their home, they need to investigate the rammifications of what the animal will suffer by being a yard dog. They need to realize they are risking the life of the animal. Dogs are domesticated animals and depend completely on their human owner for protection and to keep them safe. It is a well established fact that dogs do nor fair well, physically or mentally, as dogs who live inside with their owners. It is all dogs live for: to sit at their owners side or at their feet and to hear their master's voice. I hope the Osborne's read these comments and maybe they will learn something. I have done rescue work in Arizona for several years where the skies are cloudless, the sun ever shining, and the heat reaches 116. Yup! and people still keep yard dogs out here. Some I've rescued have gone blind from the membranes of their eyes drying out! The Osbornes have good hearts for dogs, but better they only have four or five as pets that they can welcome into their home other then keeping 18 dogs isolated in their yard who are at the mercy of nature (poisonous spiders, biting ants, snakes or wild animals) and even at risk of cruel strangers who may happen upon them. Yard dogs also suffer the elements of weather just like humans do. Bring your pets inside to live with you, Obornes. Obviously 18 will be too many so find good loving caring homes; people who will welcome them inside to live with them.
My heart goes out to them, being a dog owner and lover, it's devastating to lose a little furbaby but in such a vicious way it's worse. Blessings to you all.
I think what's more sad (though yes, it is a very sad thing when pets are killed or hurt by outside influences -- I had a cat attacked by a dog just last year, and another killed by a car that SWERVED to hit her...) is the fact that Kelly clearly has problems with English grammar and spelling. Wow. How embarrassing.
my dog got attacked by a ground hog, no place is safe for our toy dogs any more!!!
Ozzie doesn't even know who HE is. Just get another dog and tell him it's the same one...
I had a coyote or two stalking my dog in a Denver suburb. Worried and unable to leave my dog in the house all day/night due to the number of hours I was working, I installed 'coyote rollers' from http://www.coyoteroller.com. Nothing is a 100% guarantee, but I felt way more comfortable knowing they were there. Great concept and no reason to believe they would not work and certainly worth the cost. They come in 48" sections and are easy to install. I think the inventors name is Bill ?? But, again, I found them online at www.coyoteroller.com
I think it's so sad to see small dogs get carried away by animals that should also have a right to roam...But that is life and if an owner can't take care enough of a pet (knowing) that wild animals are around then you really shouldn't blame the wild ones. And don't slap me down I have a chihuahua and she stays in-doors unless we are walking her or we are outside while she is wandering the yard...Not only to protect her from the human side of life but also the wildside. This so sounds like when the American Indians were rounded up and were expected to give up the right to roam the land that they considered a free place . So now it is happening with the wild ones....Still so sad...
I too just lost my little 5 pound yorkie. I let him out to go potty before bed. He usually walks three feet from my deck to go#1 and about another ten to go#2. I did not even think to look to see if a coyote was standing there behind a shrub, but unfortunately within less than two minutes and he would not come back I new something was wrong. We searched for 45minutes and found him still alive over 600 feet from our home. We had hoped that since the coyote dropped him that he had a chance for survival. Three days after being in ICU at the hospital his little body just couldn't take it anymore and we lost him. What a terrible thing for such a loving dog to go through. I definately have learned my lesson. If I ever get a small dog again I will not take letting him out for granted. I would like to think that the Osbourne's would have thought the same way but obviously not.
And as long as we keep pushing our urban areas farther and farther into THEIR TERRITORY they'll continue to be intruding onto people's property. Nothing to do with being an "animal lover", although I am one, it's simply that they have no where else to go. We have to keep track of our pets and be careful with what we do with trash to lessen the odds of their coming into our yards. I love how hunters make excuses for shooting deer because there are too many of them. There wouldn't be if they still had natural predators to control their numbers.
I have to reply to Rebecca Skelnik's comments. Obviously, you have never watched the show or know much about the Osborne's. They do NOT adopt these dogs and keep them as outside pets. Their dogs are roaming around their homes.
To keep a dog totally inside is so unfair to the animal, while I don't agree that a dog should be left outside all day, or unattended - I firmly believe that dogs need more outside time. Apparently, you much be the kind of person who just wants to sit inside on your couch - well dogs don't want to! They love to be outside, going for walks or hikes, playing ball, or just romping around a yard. It is almost like stating you have to stay in your bedroom all day, except to go to the bathroom. They get bored just as humans do.
You need to read more on dog psycology...
It is a real shame that Ozzy lost his dog, and for you to downgrade him is even more of a shame.
Maybe the coyote was getting back at Ozzie for biting the head off his pet bat!!!
This is so sad. My little Yorkie was attacked by a coyote a year ago and I screamed and yelled and drove him off. She survived but she DOES NOT go out in the yard without me aby more. This was in Joliet, IL in November when the coyotes are hundry!!!!!
IN ALABAMA WE ARE INFESTED WITH COYOTEES AND THE GAME AND FISH HAS NO TIME TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT
Well people the coyotes, wolves and bears were here before us. I personally, prefer to keep them in check but not to the point that there are none like the wolves were at one point.
One more thing, remember that your pet is part of there food chain.
Exactly, it doesn't make a wild animal any difference, just because that dog or cat is your pet doesn't make it off limits to the wild animal, this is what happens when people and wild animals start mixing, its sad but that's what would happen in the wild, a little dog like that would not survive anyways. If that's the Little Bit that was on the video, at least she died like a wild animal and didn't die alone and caged and after a dozen or more births.
These people are HOW rich, and they take to tossing poisoned bait over a fence? Does it even occur to them how many birds, birds of prey, and other wildlife are sustained on carrion? Stupid, careless, stupid! You're RICH, build a bigger, better fence instead of poisoning the local wildlife!
And I have to say it--with all that money, they couldn't have provided that girl with a better education?
Coyotes came over my wall and got hold of my little Papillon. She was out in the yard with another small dog. I never let them go alone but my daughter came in to turn her eggs and that little bit of time the coyote's came in. If you find a little animal you cherish with it's neck broken and bleeding you are VERY UPSET. At first I put out poison outside my fence but then I felt I couldn't kill the coyote for trying to survive. He only knew he was hungry. Now I really watch my dogs. However, I haven't seen any coyotes for some time now, some I'm wondering if someone else poisoned them all. When you're hurt and greiving you just want to have some revenge. Usually, you calm down and think it through after a short while. A coyote can jump a fence or wall eight feet high or more With an animal in it's mouth. You could put electric fencing outside the fence I guess. In any case, why oh why..do you have to be so shallow and petty that you have to knock the daughter? She is NOT THE TOPIC, STUPID!