When Roderick Lachlan heard twigs cracking behind him as he walked his dog on a Coombs logging road, he first dismissed fears it could be the wolf-dog that’s caused so much alarm near Parksville.
But within seconds, he learned it was that animal.
“They said the creature was over by the helicopter pad. That’s kilometres away from where I am, and then we find ourselves being stalked,” said Lachlan, a Qualicum Beach resident.
Lachlan said the animal quickly jumped on his dog Fanny and tore into her back until he fought it off with a stick, ran her to their truck and took her to the vet.
“I was in a full body sweat in fear. This is traumatic. It is downright traumatic,” said Lachlan.
It happened Nov. 16 near Hilliers Road, more than 10 km from where the animal was first spotted in early September after it was seen being dumped out of a van.
On Saturday morning, the wolf-dog killed a French bulldog as its owners, Greg Salmon and Carolyn Marchildon, walked it on a well-used trail behind Coombs Country Campground.
“I got about three-quarters of the way through, and this wolf comes out of nowhere, grabbed ocean, broke my finger. Broke the leash, ripped it right out of my hand,” Greg Salmon told CHEK News Sunday.
The site of the fatal attack is now taped off. It marks the fourth serious attack involving the wolf-dog in two months.
“This animal needs to be put down. It’s a killer,” said Lachlan.
According to Coastal Animal Services, a trap has been set up in the woods behind Coombs, and officers are treating it seriously. But residents who live in the farm-rich area wonder why the animal’s capture isn’t being treated more urgently.
“I’m mad at the people who dumped it. I’m mad at Conservation and the SPCA for not doing something. I don’t care whose job it is. Somebody needs to step up and help this guy. I mean, that animal’s just doing what comes natural,” said Coombs resident Ali Harris.
Harris fears for her horses and sheep now and is checking on them around the clock since the wolf dog has been seen roaming behind her farm.
“Yeah, if it came down to him running down my animals, they probably don’t stand a chance. They’re fenced in, right,” said Harris.
According to FLED, their live trap has now been removed, and volunteers are leaving the wolf-dog’s capture to authorities.
“It’s 170 acres he’s claimed to his own, so that’s why people walk through there with their dogs,” said Gary Shade, founder of FLED.
People walking their dogs behind Coombs and Parksville are urged to stay far away from areas where the wolf dog has been seen until the animal is captured.
Skye Ryan
