Valley dog recovers after coyote attack in Woody Creek

Valley residents Jillian Beed Houston and her husband Hart recently endured every pet owner’s nightmare after their dog Max was attacked by coyotes inside the couple’s yard of their home in the Woody Creek area.

Houston has been an Aspen resident for three years with her husband being born and raised. While she said they’ve seen their fair share of bears and deer over the years, they’ve never had encounters with coyotes within the entire time they’ve lived there.

Until now.

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On the night of Monday, Dec. 11, the Houston’s were settling down for the day, getting ready for bed, when all of a sudden they heard a terrible sound from outside of their bedroom window. Upon inspection, Jillian Houston said she saw what appeared to be four coyotes throwing around a dead animal. Little did she know at the time, the “dead” animal was Max. 

Once she realized Max wasn’t under the bed as they had previously thought, she said she immediately started screaming from the window in an attempt to chase the coyotes away. Luckily it worked and after their retreat, Max shuffled in slowly from the cold covered in snow, blood, and feces. Houston and her husband quickly began cleaning him off and that’s when they discovered multiple puncture wounds around his chest and back area and was breathing through a punctured hole in his lung.

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Knowing time was not on their side, the two quickly drove Max to the Valley Emergency Clinic in Basalt for immediate medical attention. Houston said Max had to spend the entire night in an oxygen kennel. But due to the Clinic’s hours, they had to bounce back and forth between the Red Hill Animal Health Center in Carbondale during the day and back to Basalt at night throughout the week until finally connecting with Dr. Darren Imhoff with Roaring Fork Veterinary Surgery.

Imhoff explained that Max’s injuries were much worse from the inside. After a thorough examination, Max had four broken ribs and the coyote’s teeth punctured through the ribs and muscle so deep it left a hole the size of an index finger. Based on the depth of the bites, Houston said Imhoff was largely concerned over infection.

“They had to do a full open chest surgery to clean everything out, fix everything from the inside and they left all of the external wounds open so that things could start healing from the inside out,” she said. “But he still said there was a high risk of the coyote’s bacteria.”

With still needing to be under supervision, after a day spent at Roaring Fork Veterinary Surgery, Houston said they were going to have to pick Max up to bring him back to the Valley Emergency Clinic in Basalt overnight. Imhoff, however, graciously volunteered to take Max home with him for the night and save the Houstons from yet another back-and-forth trip after an already long and stressful week.

“(Imhoff) just offered to help out of the kindness of his heart by taking him to his house, which I thought was just really nice,” she said. “He has been a really amazing surgeon vet through all of this.”

The following Friday morning, you might say Christmas came a little early for the Houstons as they received a call from Imhoff informing them that Max appeared to be doing significantly better and was even finally eating. Imhoff said Max was doing so well that he was actually going to be good to come home provided they bring him back for a checkup over the weekend.

“It’s definitely been a journey this week,” she said “The phone call this morning was really positive, the most positive he (Imhoff) has sounded. He has Max on really high antibiotics now and he was able to take the tubes out of Max’s chest this morning. So, that’s a good sign because there was still blood coming through the tubes yesterday (Thursday). They said he’s a very lucky dog because if the coyotes bit him on the neck, he’d be dead.”

While final costs of the surgery and vet visits are still being determined, Houston said the first night at the vet cost $3,000 with a following $500 and $2,000 for additional overnight vet stays. She said when all is said and done, she anticipates the final cost coming in between $15,000 and $20,000.

As a result of Max’s extensive injuries, Houston has started a GoFundMe in hopes of asking the community to help assist with Max’s veterinary bills. If you’re able to help in any way or would like to spread the word, the GoFundMe campaign can be found at https://gf.me/v/c/gfm/maxs-survival-after-the-coyote-chowdown.

Pitkin County Animal Services Officer Emily Casebeer said that while she personally has yet to receive any calls or reports to indicate that coyote attacks are on the rise throughout the county, she did say that, anecdotally, the incident did not sound abnormal as coyotes are predators and if hungry enough will always go for what they perceive as easy prey.

With that in mind, Casebeer said that the Houstons’ story is a “good reminder” for the rest of us. While this attack took place within a fenced yard, Casebeer said it’s prevention and proactive thinking on the part of pet owners that ultimately keeps them from ending up in unsafe predicaments.

“Wildlife was here before we were, this is their home, so it’s our responsibility to manage our pets appropriately,” she said. “That means keeping a close eye on our pets if you have your dog off leash in an area that’s allowed, making sure that you have excellent control of your dog and solid recall, you know it’s going to follow your command. If you’re out hiking on trails, it’s always important that you’re making noise, talking, having a bell on your pack or your dog, something along those lines to alert animals that you’re in the area can sometimes be helpful.” 

To reach Jonson Kuhn, email him at jkuhn@aspentimes.com.