‘I’m really glad we had the warning’: Facebook post helps family save dog from coyotes

By Kayla James

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    WAUKEE, Iowa (KCCI) — A Waukee couple says her dog is still alive today thanks to a man’s Facebook post Wednesday night.

Sophie is the 12-year-old dog of Jennifer Vaughan and her husband. Vaughan says on Wednesday night, they let Sophie out in their backyard around 10 p.m. Her husband, after checking outside before Sophie went out, was nearby to keep watch because people in the neighborhood had noticed the presence of coyotes recently.

“My husband was just kind of standing at the backdoor and watching Sophie and making sure she was okay,” said Vaughan. “He didn’t see anything initially.”

Vaughan says she was scrolling through Facebook when she came upon James Ingebritson’s post in the WAUKEE TALKEE Facebook group. The post called out to neighbors along Cedar Street, stating: “About 5 min ago it sounded like a Coyote was attacking someone’s dog in their back yard. I could be mistaken, but sure sounded like it!”

“I yelled out to my husband: ‘Hey! Check on Sophie. The coyotes have been sighted in the neighborhood,'” Vaughan said.

Vaughan says when her husband checked outside, he saw two coyotes.

“They were just in our neighbor’s backyard. They were flanked on either side of our dog, and they were both stalking her, moving towards her,” Vaughan said.

According to Vaughan, Sophie quickly came inside after her husband called the dog’s name.

The situation reminded Vaughan of how two weeks ago, another coyote was caught on their security camera. The coyote was walking around their shed, just feet away from their back porch.

“I’m really glad we had the warning. I’m so glad that he posted,” Vaughan said.

The post was one that 8-year-old Taylor Ingebritson played a role in when she alerted her father on Wednesday night about the noise she was hearing outside.

“I thought it was kids jumping on a trampoline and screaming,” said Taylor Ingebritson. “But I looked outside, and there was nothing there.”

Taylor Ingebritson quickly went and told her dad, James, who immediately took action. He ran out to their deck, which faces a wooded area, but couldn’t see anything.

“I started barking really loud like a dog, trying to scare them,” said James Ingebritson. “It then got really silent.”

Once that happened and James Ingebritson realized there was nothing he could really see, he went to Facebook to create his warning post.

“I don’t know if anything actually got harmed by it, but it sure sounded like there was a lot of damage being done,” said James Ingebritson, who recalls hearing growling and yelps.

James Ingebritson says he wasn’t sure what his post would do — if anything — but he and Taylor are happy it helped the Vaughans.

The Ingebritsons and Vaughans say they don’t know if a dog was attacked last night and haven’t heard about anything from neighbors. However, Vaughan does have a warning for people: she says the coyotes are becoming more bold and don’t seem to be afraid of people.

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