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What animal attacked this dog?

I know someone who breeds pugs , and leaves their dogs outside in their kennel at night. The kennel is about 3 feet tall. Well, a couple of nights ago, the owner of the house came outside in the morning to check on the pugs, and one of them had been killed. The wound was a huge laceration in it's shoulder, with part of it's insides being ripped out and eaten. The ears of the pug were also ripped off. The pug appeared to be gutted from inside of it's upper chest/shoulder area. There were several pugs in this enclosure, and only one other pug had any signs of injury, and it was just a small laceration on the ear of another pug. There was no blood splatter anywhere in the enclosure, and no signs of anything attempting to get over the kennel. The house is in a pretty rural area and there is no shortage of wild predators in the area. Whatever animal did this either cleaned up it's mess, or didn't make a mess. It was also able to get over a 3 foot fence. What kind of attack does this sound like? Coyote? Cougar? I've thought about ruling out a coyote, since they aren't really known as being jumpers. I know big cats kill either by a suffocation bite, or by puncturing the skull. Dogs (including coyotes and wolves) will usually go for the legs and attempt to rip apart at it's prey. What does this look like? Here are the pics http://i35.tinypic.com/2qao28k.jpg http://i37.tinypic.com/4ruuzq.jpg http://i36.tinypic.com/4kb91w.jpg http://i36.tinypic.com/ifbl21.jpg http://i38.tinypic.com/rw5i8h.jpg 1badls1 - Are you saying the dog was killed by "bullshit"?

Public Comments

1. My guess is a coyote. I live in a rural area as well, and coyotes are pretty common, especially here in Texas. I had a similar experience a few months ago, where my two out door cats were attacked. One was killed, and viciously torn apart, with similar lacerations as the pug. Unfortunately, she died, and her insides were eaten out as well. However, my other cat had one leg torn off and managed to get away with no other wounds. The Vet told us that it must have been a coyote based on the way the animal was preyed upon. Once again, the wounds are very similar, so it seems like a coyote to me.
2. Well, I maybe wrong but I am gonna call bullshit. there is no blood anywhere. Unless the dog was killed somewhere else and the body was placed there. just my opinion.
3. A wolverine will climb a 50 ft vertical pole just for fun but they live in the north so probably not. Could well be a mountain lion sure but sympathy to the family and best wishes.
4. I can't think of any animal that can perform a bloodless kill. I can clearly see a punture wound on a leg, but the rest of the of the excisement is hauntingly reminiscent of cattle and sheep mutilations seen almost commonly throuout the west. No one knows what /or who did these either. p.s. love the bullshit theory.
5. Honestly, I would expect a coyote or cougar to have (a) carried it off and (b) done more damage. So my money would be on something smaller. Since you didn't tell us where you live, it's a little tougher to guess, but I'm assuming NA since you mentioned cougars yourself. The right forelimb is everted severely, which suggests that something tried to pull the pug away by that limb. ...couldn't see any teeth marks on the forelimb in the pics, but those could give an idea. Whatever it was, it had time to consume the muscles of the brachium (upper arm) as well as the lungs and heart. So it wasn't a terribly small animal, nor was it a large one based on how much meat is left on the opposite side of the humerus (visible in the third picture). A bobcat is a possibility, but they're notoriously shy and would have been extremely unlikely to have taken on a pug in a group. But a bobcat also wouldn't have been likely to haul off a kill this size quickly, and they do tend to eat where they kill... If you could tell us the approximate location... that might help as well. In either case, the obvious suggestion is to put a top on the kennel immediately. Predators are usually smart enough to know where to return for additional food. I have a pug, so pass my sympathies on to your friends... Very sad.