'Biting her': Another coyote attack in Burlington sends woman to hospital

The City of Burlington has activated its crisis management team after a sixth "unprovoked" coyote attack on a resident occurred on Saturday (Sept. 10).

The most recent unprovoked coyote attack occurred on Saturday morning at around 8:20 a.m. at a retirement home on New Street in the Roseland area.

The city says a woman, a resident at the home, was sitting out on her front patio in a chair.

"She was relaxing and awoke to the pain of the coyote biting her in the hip area," the city said in a release.

The coyote was startled when the woman woke up, but tried to approach her again, the city added.

"She was able to scare it away," the city said.

A retirement home employee saw what happened and ran out to check on the resident. The coyote ran across New Street and into a neighbourhood.

An ambulance was called for the woman who was bit and she was taken to the hospital, the city said.

The coyote is described as a smaller, sandy-coloured coyote.

City of Burlington Animal Services staff are patrolling the area to locate the coyote and its den. They are also working with a certified wildlife control professional to eliminate the animal.

While staff have been monitoring the area since the last attack on Aug. 24, they have found several "neglected" properties in the area that could be offering ideal denning for a pack of coyotes. Bylaw officers are being dispatched and prioritizing by bringing these properties up to meet bylaw requirements and to remove the opportunity for coyotes to den on these sites.

The city is asking residents to continue to be vigilant in these areas and report coyote sightings using the form at burlington.ca/coyotes.

On Saturday, Mayor Marianne Meed Ward spoke to Natural Resources and Forestry Minister Graydon Smith, "who expressed sincere concern for the health and safety of our residents and is working with us to help address this serious risk to our community from these unprecedented and unprovoked attacks," the city said.

Among the recent victims was a two-and-a-half-year-old boy who was on his backyard deck. The coyote grabbed him by the neck in an attempt to drag him away, the city said.

Here's a map of recent attacks:

City of Burlington staff will present a report to council on coyote management recommendations at the corporate services, strategy, risk and accountability committee meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 14 at 9:30 a.m. for approval at the City of Burlington special council meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 14 at noon.

I join all of my colleagues on council in expressing our heartfelt distress to the resident attacked this morning. We want to assure residents we're taking immediate actions to protect our community, including convening a crisis team and a special council meeting this week to implement our action plan," Ward said in a statement.