Coyote terrorizing Toronto park has been shot and killed by police

A coyote who was thought to have attacked multiple people in a Toronto park was shot by police and died on Monday. 

That breaks my heart. 💔😢🙏

— Vicky🇮🇪🇨🇦 (@LeclercVicky) November 22, 2021

Two people were bitten the day before by a coyote in Bayview Village Park after a series of other recent sightings in the area.

Some people mentioned that there may have been more than one coyote roaming the park. 

The city made comment on the attacks on Sunday, saying Toronto Animal Services and Toronto Police's Emergency Task Force were in the park all day working to find and capture the coyote. 

Toronto police tells blogTO that the city's Animal Services department were the ones who made the call to have the animal shot.

a coyote being a coyote gets shot by a pig

— Last of a Dying Breed (@RamRamBiggaLow) November 22, 2021

"There were concerns the animal would continue to roam and from a public safety standpoint, a decision was made to put the animal down," police said. 

The coyote was found and shot near Hollywood Public School in North York, officers say. 

Police mentioned to blogTO that a member of the school saw the coyote and made a call to officers just before 8 a.m. on Monday morning. 

Apparently, Animal Services made the call to shoot because they believed the now-dead coyote was the same one that bit two people near Bayview.

Toronto Police say after consulting with Wild Life Rescue and Animal Services, the decision was made shoot and kill the coyote, instead of tranquilize it, because tranquilizer would have taken 15-20 minutes to take effect, and they didn’t want it moving around the area pic.twitter.com/OFgLNNW4cB

— Momin Qureshi (@MominCityNews) November 22, 2021

Some Torontonians were upset to hear the news of the coyote being killed.

The Coyote was not terrorizing anyone, it was scared and defending itself … remember they are wild animals that walk in rural areas .. question is how did they get there

— Jonni Martinez  (@iJonniM) November 22, 2021

Others felt shooting wasn't the right move, saying that humans have taken over its natural habitat.

robbed of its natural habitat through human encroachment and interference, the poor coyote is murdered in a hopeless attempt to orient itself from what it instinctually knew to be its own turf

— Autom Tagsa (@autom8) November 22, 2021

The city has yet to comment on the matter.