The San Francisco coyote discourse may be about to get more contentious, as a pack of five coyotes surrounded and killed a small Pomeranian dog early Thursday morning at Baker Beach.

San Francisco’s relationship with its increasing population of urban coyotes was already strained by a late June incident where a coyote chased after and bit a five-year-old girl in Golden Gate Park’s SF Botanical Garden, which resulted in state Fish and Wildlife officials shooting and killing three suspect coyotes. Now there may be more tension around the coyote situation, as NBC Bay Area reports that five coyotes attacked and killed a small dog Thursday morning at Baker Beach, despite the couple who owned the dog being present at the time of the attack.  

The incident happened Thursday morning at around 7:15 am at Baker Beach. The dog was a three-and-a-half-year-old Pomeranian named Peter, and his owner Justin Rivard said there were three dogs playing in the sand when the five coyotes surrounded them and attacked.

“I just remember seeing teeth and a very dominant body position,” Rivard told NBC Bay Area. “They surrounded us. They made a semi-circle around us. When I tried to grab [the dog Peter], they grabbed him, and the two others jumped at my partner and tried to get the dogs from his arms.”

Rivard reported the incident to the National Parks Police, as Baker Beach is part of a national park and is considered federal land. The Presidio Land Trust then contacted Rivard and said the coyotes may be frequenting the area because of a nearby homeless encampment they allege is a source of food and trash for the coyotes.

“There’s so much litter up there and so much food for the animals,” Rivard added. “With the quantity of food that’s available to them, they’re just going to keep their ground and establish dominance over this area.”

But it’s unclear who has jurisdiction over encampment-clearing at Baker Beach. The Presidio Trust told NBC Bay Area they did not have that authority, the National Park Service and Golden Gate National Park Conservancy both did not return comment to the station.

As a reminder, SF Animal Care & Control encourages dog owners to pick up and carry small dogs when they see a coyote, and to keep dogs on leashes in areas where there may be coyotes, even in off-leash areas.  

Related: Three Coyotes Shot and Killed After Aggressive Coyote Attacks Child In SF Botanical Garden [SFist]

Image: @ascoma via Twitter