Vinny’s dad says he’s a superhero. His mom wants to buy him a cape. Vinny is a “scrappy” rescue dog who’s 11 years old, 10 pounds, and has just three teeth. But that didn’t stop him from saving his big brother from a coyote attack. His family captured Vinny’s heroics on surveillance video and shared it on Facebook.
Erin K. Macaluso wrote, “My dog Vinny is a hero in a fur suit.”
Macaluso and her husband said they are “typically more vigilant than the average pet owner.” But they told KCAL that they accidentally left the dog door open after returning from a walk with the dogs.
Within seconds Harley, a 12-pound Morkie, ran out into the backyard after hearing a noise. But unbeknownst to Harley and his family, two coyotes were sitting just outside their fence. One of the coyotes slid through and pounced on Harley. Harley screamed and alerted Vinny who came to the rescue.
“I am so grateful and proud of…Vinny…because he saved his brother’s life by chasing the coyote off, fearlessly,” Macaluso wrote. “You can see in the video, there were 2 coyotes; only one came into my yard. The other sat on the other side of the fence, waiting…”
Macaluso said that she and her husband didn’t know what had attacked Harley initially. They were too busy rushing him to the emergency vet. “Harley was severely injured, but thankfully he will make a full recovery,” she added. But when they later reviewed their video footage they saw Vinny scare off the coyote.
Macaluso wrote on Facebook that, “This has been the most horrific experience we’ve gone through. We feel horrible. But by being fully transparent with OUR mistake, we wanted to post this to possibly save the life of another dog. We just wanted to bring this to everyone’s attention.”
“We are super vigilant dog parents. Our routine is to put the cover on the doggie door at night, and we go out with the dogs after dark; At night we carry large flashlights, air horns, and mace; my airsoft BB gun is always nearby. This is all 100% true,” Harley and Vinny’s mom continued. “Unfortunately, on this one night, we had just taken the dogs out to go potty, and forgot to put the cover on the doggie door. Just as we walked into the kitchen, the dogs heard something and quietly slipped out of the doggie door. Then all hell broke loose. It lasted 10 seconds.”
“I just want everyone to know that this can happen to anyone, no matter how careful you are. Don’t EVER let your guard down. We have lived here for 30 years in the same house, we have always had small dogs, and we have had cameras most of that time. We have never seen a coyote in our backyard until that night.”
Thank goodness Harley and Vinny are okay. Vinny truly is a little hero. He was rescued from a puppy mill and they adopted him from ECPR (Emerald City Pet Rescue) back in 2014.
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