LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — A southwest Las Vegas homeowner is sharing surveillance video of coyotes attacking her backyard chicken coop, hoping to warn other pet owners before it happens to them.
Kristin Bartolo says coyotes jumped her backyard fence in the middle of the night and killed 20 of her 25 chickens.
WATCH | Southwest Las Vegas reporter Shakeria Hawkins caught up with Bartolo, who showed us the surveillance video:
"The coyotes jumped over this fence, which is at least seven, eight feet," Bartolo said. "Came down this wall ... went around and took them out one by one."
Surveillance video shows two to three coyotes roaming through Bartolo's backyard. She believes they got into the coop through a small door that had been left open, then dragged the chickens out one by one, carrying them over the wall into an empty desert lot beside her home.
"Then they went back through that gate, up that little ramp right there. They would take them out, take them over the fence, and come back and get them," Bartolo said.
Bartolo is now reinforcing her coop and backyard, but said her biggest concern is that the attack happened near Jones Boulevard and Sahara Avenue, not on the edge of town. She believes coyotes are venturing deeper into neighborhoods, putting more pets at risk.
"Now I'm just trying to secure it, but I do know it's a huge problem right now, these coyotes," Bartolo said. "I've heard of them coming in packs of three or four and killing people's dogs."
For Bartolo, the loss goes far beyond the cost of the chickens. She said every one of them had a name and had become part of the family.
"We raised them. I named all of them. Their names are on my coops," Bartolo said. "I'm having a hard time."
"They wiped my chickens out, and they're right over there still in the desert," she added.
Bartolo said she is heartbroken by what happened, but hopes sharing her surveillance video and story will encourage neighbors to take extra steps to protect their pets and backyard animals.
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