GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — A Gwinnett County man is bandaged up after a coyote viciously attacked him in his front yard.
Jim Brown was one of three people attacked by coyotes in two days in the same neighborhood off Braselton Highway.
He said he took his 16-year-old Shih Tzu named Gigi out for a walk at about 6 a.m. Saturday. They were standing in the front yard, right next to the driveway along Wyncliff Court.
“And five feet away, there’s a coyote, right there,” he said. “And before I could even do anything, it’s all over me.”
Brown grabbed the dog in his left arm and tried to fend off the coyote.
“I stuck my leg out, and it knocked me over,” he said, with the animal biting him “profusely.”
“I guess adrenaline kicked in, and I did the best I could and kicked it and kind of stood back for a minute,” he said. “And I was able to stand up and it leaped at me again.”
Yelling as loud as he could, Brown carried the dog back into the house where his wife was hysterical.
“It was pandemonium when it got back into the house,” he said.
The dog was not hurt, but Brown spent more than five hours in the hospital where his deep wounds were bandaged and he received antibodies, a tetanus shot and the first of four rabies shots.
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The three attacks happened Friday and Saturday in the Wynfield Point subdivision. In two of the attacks, the victims were with dogs.
On Tuesday, Gwinnett County officials announced on social media and in neighborhood fliers that a coyote had tested positive for rabies.
But Brown said the county should have warned neighbors immediately after the attacks.
“So in my mind, there was a dangerous situation with a wild animal that had a history of attacking people and we didn’t know anything about it,” he said. “The citizens were outside, the kids were out playing and things like that.”
Gwinnett County Animal Welfare and Enforcement said people should avoid animals behaving in unusual ways, and ensure their pets are current on rabies vaccination.
“If you have been bitten or scratched by any stray animals or suspected rabid animal, immediate preventive treatment is necessary,” county officials said in a news release.
Brown has his own message for neighbors.
“Don’t taking anything for granted anymore,” he said. “Be vigilant when you go outside and be aware of your surroundings.”
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