UPDATE: Coyote Reportedly Attacks Pets in Dials Mill Road Area

If you live in the area of Dials Mill Road and the Belfair Subdivision in Oconee County, keep your pets inside.

That's the advice from the Oconee County Sheriff's Office, issued in a Nixle alert around 6 p.m. Monday.  A coyote reportedly attacked two pets.

Chief Deputy Lee Weems said a Chihuahua was injured and had to be put down. The coyote also cornered a cat from a nearby residence but the owner chased it away and 911 was called, he said.

Deputies were on the scene within three minutes and combed the area and alerted residents, but did not find the coyote, Weems said.

"We have reason to believe the coyote may be wounded, but is still in the area," the Sheriff's Office reported on Facebook.

Call 911 if you spot the coyote.

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources provides a fact sheet about coyotes on its website, which notes "prevention is the best defense against nuisance coyotes" and includes the following tips:

• Take pets indoors during the night, as this is the coyote's primary hunting time.
• If the pet must be kept outside, put up fencing to discourage coyotes.
• Small livestock or poultry should be kept in an enclosed or sheltered area. Coyotes rarely bother larger livestock although they often are blamed for such nuisance instances. It should be noted that dogs, rather than coyotes, are notorious for harassing and attacking livestock.