Distressing moment coyote mauls Arizona toddler on driveway of his family’s $2.1m home as surgeon mom walks nearby, before escaping to playground where it attacked ANOTHER child
- Home security footage caught a coyote attack the toddler in Scottsdale, Arizona
- The child’s mom Kelly Pirozzi was unloading her car when the beast attacked him
- Half a mile away, another toddler was mauled by the coyote near a playground
This is the distressing moment an Arizona toddler is mauled by a coyote as his mom stands nearby – before it escapes and attacks another child in a nearby playground.
Authorities are still hunting for the beast after it terrorized the city of Scottsdale, north of Phoenix, on Wednesday.
Kelly Pirozzi, the mom of the toddler, told ABC News she was standing on the driveway of her stunning $2.1 million four bed, five bath home when the animal attacked her 21-month-old son, biting down on his arm before she was able to tear him free.
‘It happened so quickly,’ the surgeon said, revealing the youngster thankfully only suffered minor bite marks in the horrific ambush.
Terrifying footage caught the lead up to the attack, where the 21-month-old toddler unwittingly found himself as the target of a bloodthirsty coyote
The wild dog was seen pouncing on the child after he wandered into the shadows
The 21-month-old victim, center, was thankfully left relatively unscathed and suffered only minor bite marks
Pirozzi, a podiatric surgery specialist in the area, was able to capture footage of the attack on her home security camera.
While turning her back to unload her car, the mom’s 21-month-old son slowly wandered towards their $2.1million Scottsdale home.
But a coyote locked on to him from inside the bushes and it is seen steadily moving towards the child as he steps into the shadows.
After pouncing towards him and clamping down on his arm, Pirozzi said the animal eventually released him from its grip after he yelled out in terror.
The video later caught the coyote eerily trawling the area as it returned to the scene.
Kelly Pirozzi, right, a podiatric surgery specialist in the Scottsdale area, said the attack ‘happened so quickly’
The attack occurred while Pirozzi was unloading her car at her Scottsdale, Arizona home
But following the attack, another toddler in a playground near an elementary school was also set upon by a coyote just half a mile away.
Officials believe the same coyote was behind both attacks, with the second victim suffering several ‘scrape marks on his stomach’, according to Darren Julian, and urban wildlife specialist with Arizona Game and Fish.
With the strikes happening in quick succession, Julian warned parents in the area to be ‘extra vigilant’ while the menace is still on the loose.
Arizona’s Game and Fish Department said in a statement that this ‘coyote shows little fear of people and may have been illegally fed in the past.’
The body added that it is patrolling the area with help from Scottsdale police.
However, despite officials so-far failing to locate the wild dog, the wildlife specialist insisted that coyote attacks are rare, with the latest incidences the first in the Phoenix area since 2017.
Officials also warn that feeding coyotes can make them lose their fear of humans, and increase the risk of attacks.
People living in areas where the wild dogs roam have also been told to keep pets indoors, with the creatures known to prey on smaller dogs, cats, or other small mammals.
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