Mount Pleasant leaders respond to viral video of man wrestling coyote to save dog

MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCBD)- News 2 first brought you the story about a Mount Pleasant man, Timothy Snipe, saving his chihuahua, Roxie, from a coyote.

That story has since gone viral and now the Town of Mount Pleasant is responding to the incident after the man’s neighbors say coyotes approaching their homes have been a continual problem.

The video is getting a lot of attention on social media, and especially raising the eyebrows of Mount Pleasant leaders like Mayor Will Haynie.

Haynie said, “This could’ve been much worse and I’m glad Timothy is ok.”

Haynie says Mount Pleasant loves its wildlife, but the safety of residents and pets is their top priority.

“We do everything we can to have a healthy ecosystem and we never want those experiences to be negative,” Haynie said.

One neighbor who lives next to Snipe says they’ve had several encounters with coyotes in the past, “We hear them every night when we come back, especially when there’s sirens. They sound like monkeys.”

He says since Snipe had that experience, he’s been way more vigilant about protecting his dog, “Keeping him on a leash and stuff like that and trying not to keep so many scraps of food out.”

News 2 asked Haynie if he thinks the coyote population in Mount Pleasant is too high.

“There are a lot of sightings and you see a lot of that on social media, but attacks or experiences like this do seem to be rare,” Haynie said.

Haynie says if coyotes were ever to become a bigger threat in Mount Pleasant it would be up to the State Department of Natural Resources to do something about it.

“Wildlife management is a state issue, the Department of Natural Resources and state law prevails. We encourage people to be safe around wildlife,” Haynie said.

People in Snipe’s neighborhood said they’ve contacted DNR about getting coyote traps put out in their neighborhood.