$10,000 reward offered to help find person who shot Studio City coyote
A $10,000 reward is being offered for any help finding the person who shot a coyote in Studio City.
The coyote, known to neighbors as Wendy, roamed a Studio City neighborhood for about a year with an extremely swollen face before wildlife and animal rescue groups captured her last week.
The facility that treated Wendy, Wildlife Care of Southern California, said that part of the coyote's jaw was destroyed by a significant infection and two pellets that were lodged in its head, "indicating that she had been previously shot." The rescue facility said surgery and treatment could not repair the damage, which influenced their decision to euthanize the animal.
"She would have required a soft-food diet for the remainder of her life," Wildlife Care SoCal wrote. "For a wild coyote, this would have meant that she could never return to the life and freedom she deserved, even in a captive setting. This is no life for a 3-year-old coyote."
Southern California Pit Bull Rescue, one of the groups that helped locate the coyote, offered the $10,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person who shot Wendy after learning about the euthanasia.
"We spent weeks fighting to save Wendy. Now we will fight for justice for her," the group wrote in a Facebook post. "She survived for as long as she possibly could. Wendy deserved better from humanity. She deserved to live. And whoever caused her suffering should be held accountable."
