Stray Dog Mistaken for Coyote, Released into the Wild

FRANKFORT - A police officer in Frankfort, Kentucky, picked up a stray dog and brought her to the local humane society. The shelter employees, who presumably see dogs every day, took a look at this one and decided that she was a coyote.

As a wild animal, the "coyote" couldn't be kept at the shelter, so they called the police department to pick her up. At least one police officer had doubts about their assessment, but not being the animal professionals in this story, the department took the humane society at their word. They called up a wildlife expert for advice and were told that coyotes should be returned to the wild or killed.

One of the officers had taken a photo of the "coyote" before setting her loose behind a home improvement store, and the picture ending up matching the Lost Dog posters for Cooper, Lori Goodlett's 11-year-old purebred Shiba Inu, who had escaped from her yard earlier this month.

A study of adopted dogs by Dr. Victoria Voith, found that animal shelter workers were wrong in guessing the heritage of mixed breed dogs 87.5 percent of the time. For your average adopter, that doesn't matter - every dog is an individual, so you might as well appreciate your mutt for his own personality. But in areas where there is breed specific legislation, a dog mistakenly labeled a "pit bull" could lose his life ... and with over 20 breeds that are commonly mistaken for "pit bulls," it's no wonder that breed specific legislation fails. But, in the case of the Frankfort Humane Society, this learning curve could mean your pet dog is mistaken for a wild animal.

As someone with a dog who is often mistaken for a wolf or coyote, this calamity hits home. But with poor Cooper, the resemblance wasn't even close. Cooper is registered with the American Kennel Club. According to the AKC's breed standard, the Shiba Inu is a compact little dog, with an average adult weight between 17-23 pounds. Their coloring is reddish with a lighter undercoat or distinct black and tan. Their muzzles are "firm, full and round" and their tails curl over their backs.

Now for the coyotes. According to a publication on coyote management in Kentucky, adult coyotes typically weigh between 29-33 pounds; although they can be a little smaller, their body structure tends to be on the rangy side. They typically have light grey coats with black-tipped fur along their back and tail. They have a "slender snout" and "a bottle-shaped tail carried at a downward angle."

In other words, aside from being canines with erect ears, these animals have very little in common - they don't share the same body structure, coloring, muzzles or tails. It's not even close. Maybe these characteristics would be confusing if you don't spend much time around dogs, but when you work at a shelter, these differences should be obvious. It's not like not knowing the difference between similar-looking breeds like huskies and malamutes, or some of the various hound dogs; this is a serious breed identification fail.

And, considering Cooper peacefully cooperated with the officers, you'd think her domestic-dog-like behavior would be enough to give shelter workers pause before crying "coyote."

Instead, this 11-year-old companion animal was released to fend for herself in the wild, where I can only assume there are actual coyotes. I guess the only good thing is that the police opted to let the "coyote" go, instead of putting her down. At least there's some chance that the search party of volunteers and police will find Cooper and reunite her with her family.