When a South Carolina man spotted a coyote making a beeline for his small, leashed dog, he jumped into action, eventually grabbing up the wild animal and depositing it into a nearby dumpster.
On Friday, Timothy Snipe and his pup, Roxie, were on a walk when the dog stopped — her gaze, affixed on the woods.
“She started barking and I was like, what is she barking at,” Snipe told WCBD.
Snipe looked in the same direction, and soon spotted the coyote as it ran from the edge of the woods toward them.
Roxie's instincts took hold, and she started running toward the approaching animal, ready for a standoff. But Snipe knew Roxie would be no match for the larger coyote.
In Ring video of the interaction, Roxie can be heard barking at the coyote, as Snipe tries blocking it from his beloved pet.
“The coyote jumped on me and bit me on my leg, and I wrestled it down. I choked him out,” Snipe said.
Then Roxie's owner grabbed the coyote by the tail, opened the dumpster, and dropped the coyote in. The lid on the dumpster pops up quickly, as the animal tries to escape, and Snipe holds the lid down.
Help was summoned, and the coyote was collected by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control.
Snipe has since received nine rabies shots, and Roxie's got a new coyote-proof vest to wear.
The man has no regrets. “Once you get a pet, they're automatically a part of the family, and this is my girl, this is our girl,” Snipe explained.
