Coyote kills cat, remains on the loose in Pineview neighbourhood

A coyote remains on the loose after it killed a cat in Ottawa's Pineview neighbourhood, according to police.

Resident Anne-Marie Corcoran said afour-year-old house cat named Friday that belonged to her parents had earlier escaped when they were bringing in their Christmas tree.

They found it dead outside their Marigold Crescent home on Thursday night.

"It's actually really sad because the one time that he runs away, [this happens]. He didn't know what to do,"Corcorantold CBC News by phone Friday morning.

"Basically it was torn into two pieces. The only thing holding it together was his backbone," she said.

"... And while they [Corcoran's parents]were outside the coyote literally was standing on the garbage pad, which is about five feet away from them, staring at them and looking to come back and finish the cat."

They managed to scare it off and watched it run into CedarcroftPark, she said.

Spotted in park Friday morning

The next sighting occurred Friday morning at about 6 a.m. when Corcoranwho also lives on Marigold Crescent went to nearby CedarcroftPark.

She said shespotted thecoyote described as weighing about 40 pounds with brindle colouring, a long tail and a long neck and chased it with her truck, then called police.

"There was one point where I stopped my truck and I rolled down my window and I yelled at him profusely, and that's when he just turned around and looked at me and basically started growling. And then when I put my truck in drive again, because of the noise it made, it scared him off," she said.

"But it's coming back. It's coming back. You can see the tracks."

Police said the coyote was last spotted on nearby Cedarcroft Crescent, which is close to where Highway 417 and Regional Road 174 split.

Officers lost track of the coyote and have left the scene, police said.

• Here's where the coyote was spotted.