The Kelly Keen coyote fatal attack is the only known fatal

coyote attack Coyote attacks are events where coyotes attack humans. While uncommon and rarely cause serious injuries, they have been increasing in frequency, especially in the state of California. Although media reports of such attacks generally identify the a ...

on a child, as well as the only known fatal coyote attack on a human ever confirmed in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. On August 26, 1981, three-year-old

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

resident Kelly Lynn Keen was dragged off her property and fatally wounded by an

urban coyote Urban coyotes are coyotes that reside in North American metropolitan areas (major cities and their suburbs). Coyotes thrive in suburban settings and urban regions, because of the availability of food and the lack of predators. One report describe ...

before being rescued by her father. The event is also notable for its aftermath, in which large numbers of coyotes were killed and two animal rights activists provoked an uproar by claiming that her parents, not the coyote, had killed her.

Attack

On August 26, 1981, a three-year-old girl named Kelly Keen was left alone while her mother Cathy did some daily chores. Kelly was watching educational television programs in the living room of the family's home in the Chevy Chase Canyon Neighborhood of

Glendale, California Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543, up from 191,719 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth-larges ...

, but she let herself out the front door and stepped into the driveway, where she encountered an

. The coyote took Kelly in its mouth and ran off, dragging her through the street. Her father, Robert, quickly came running, chased the coyote off, and rushed Kelly to the Glendale Adventist Medical Center, where she was in surgery for four hours before she died.Life & Times Transcript, 05/06/04
The cause of death was determined to be a broken neck and blood loss as a direct result of the coyote attack.''The Urban Coyote Problem in Los Angeles County'', Robert G. Howell Deputy Agricultural Commissioner, University of Nebraska - Lincoln, 1982> She is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale.

Aftermath

Government reaction

Following Keen's death, the Los Angeles Animal Regulation Commission developed the first serious urban coyote management program, including 80 days of leghold trapping and shooting within a 0.5-mile (0.8-km) radius of the attack site, during which county personnel trapped and shot 55 coyotes.''A History of Urban Coyote Problems'', Robert M. Tim & Rex O. Baker, University of Nebraska - Lincoln, 2007

Accusations by animal rights activists

In 2004, former child actress and animal rights activist

Pamelyn Ferdin Pamelyn Wanda Ferdin (born February 4, 1959) is an American animal rights activist and a former child actress. Ferdin's acting career was primarily during the 1960s and 1970s, though she appeared in projects sporadically in the 1980s and later ...

attended a Glendale City Council meeting to oppose a proposal to cull urban coyotes. Ferdin addressed the Council wearing a shirt covered in fake blood, urging the city not to kill coyotes. She mentioned the Kelly Keen attack, and argued that rather than having been killed by a coyote, Keen had been the victim of

child abuse Child abuse (also called child endangerment or child maltreatment) is physical, sexual, and/or psychological maltreatment or neglect of a child or children, especially by a parent or a caregiver. Child abuse may include any act or failure to a ...

. She claimed that medical records indicated that the child died of a ruptured

spleen The spleen is an organ found in almost all vertebrates. Similar in structure to a large lymph node, it acts primarily as a blood filter. The word spleen comes .

, which could only have come from blunt trauma, not an animal bite. Fellow animal rights activist Michael Bell went further, claiming that, after digging around in hospital records, he discovered discrepancies and missing documents. He stated that the coyote story was a cover-up for how the child really died. Kelly's parents, Robert and Cathy Keen, watched the meeting live on cable and, upon hearing Bell's statement, raced to the Glendale City hall to respond to the allegations. They recounted the event to the council, and showed the death certificate, which listed the cause of the child's injuries as "mauled by a coyote". Ferdin's stance remained unchanged; "I stand by my beliefs that a coyote did not kill elly Keen" Councilman Frank Quintero stated: "What the activists said at the dais was cruel and absolutely uninformed ... Knowing the mother, it broke my heart that they would do that to her. When they were making the accusations, I was considering stopping them."

Similar attacks

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of comme ...

and

California State University The California State University (Cal State or CSU) is a public university system in California. With 23 campuses and eight off-campus centers enrolling 485,550 students with 55,909 faculty and staff, CSU is the largest four-year public univers ...

researchers have confirmed at least thirty-five incidents in the state in which "the possibility of serious or fatal injury seems likely if the child had not been rescued" from coyotes, including the following sample of confirmed coyote attacks on children in California that were likely to have ended similarly if the child had not been saved in time: * In August 1979, in La Verne, a coyote attacked a 5-year-old girl. Her father and a neighbor saved the child from being dragged off, but not before she had suffered deep bites on neck, head, and legs. * In July 1980, in

Agoura Hills Agoura Hills () is a city in the Santa Monica Mountains region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. Its population was 20,330 at the 2010 census, which decreased to 20,299 in 2020. It is in the eastern Conejo Valley between the S ...

, a coyote grabbed a 13-month-old girl by the midsection and started dragging her off. She suffered puncture wounds but was saved by her mother. * In August 1988, in Oceanside, a coyote bit the rollerskate of an 8-year-old girl who had just fallen but was chased away by two women throwing rocks. Another coyote grabbed a 3-year-old girl by the leg, pulled her down, and bit her on her head and neck before her mother and neighbors chased it off. * In May 1992, in

San Clemente San Clemente (; Spanish for " St. Clement") is a city in Orange County, California. Located in the Orange Coast region of the South Coast of California, San Clemente's population was 64,293 in at the 2020 census. Situated roughly midway between ...

, a coyote attacked a 5-year-old girl, biting her several times on her back and legs. She climbed her swing set to escape, and her mother chased the coyote off. * In March 1995, in

Griffith Park Griffith Park is a large municipal park at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains, in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The park includes popular attractions such as the Los Angeles Zoo, the Autry Museum of the ...

, a 5-year-old girl was knocked down twice by a coyote and bitten, before being saved by her mother. * In June 1996, in Los Altos, a coyote grabbed a 3-year-old boy's head and hand and began dragging him toward some bushes before he was saved by his 15-year-old brother. *In June 2001, in Northridge, a coyote attacked and seriously injured a 7-year-old girl, but was finally fought off by her mother. *In July 2001, in Irvine, a coyote bit a 3-year-old boy in the leg while he was playing in his yard. He was saved by his father. *In December 2001, in San Gabriel, a coyote bit a 3-year-old girl in the head, grabbed her shoulder and started to drag her away, but was chased off by her father. *In August 2003, in Apple Valley, a coyote attacked a 4-year-old boy on a golf course, biting him on the face and neck before he was saved by his father. Other reports of non-fatal coyote attacks on children in California: * On June 28, 2010, a coyote jumped on a twelve-year-old girl in Spring Valley. The girl fell backwards and injured her elbow, but she was not bitten. * On July 18, 2013, at about 3:15p.m., at Forest Lawn Cemetery in

Cypress Cypress is a common name for various coniferous trees or shrubs of northern temperate regions that belong to the family Cupressaceae. The word ''cypress'' is derived from Old French ''cipres'', which was imported from Latin ''cypressus'', the l ...

, a two-year-old girl was attacked by a coyote while playing about ten feet away from her mother, who was visiting her grandmother's grave. The coyote grabbed the playing child and started to drag her off into the bushes, but dropped the child and ran away when "lunged at" by the mother. The child was hospitalized for a 2.5 inch gash to the leg and began precautionary treatment for rabies. Authorities killed three coyotes at the cemetery later that day, and cemetery officials ordered warning signs be posted and traps be set around the cemetery but away from public areas. On October 9, the mother filed suit alleging that the cemetery, by not warning her of the risk, had liability. * On November 16, 2014, a woman claimed that her four-year-old daughter was knocked down by a coyote outside her

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

, home. After the attack, the Department of Fish and Wildlife investigated but couldn't find any coyote, and a local television news program described the attack as "alleged". * On December 25, 2014, in

Fremont, California Fremont is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. Located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area, Fremont has a population of 230,504 as of 2020, making it the fourth List of cities and towns in the San Fra ...

, just after 6:00p.m., a boy was bitten in an attack by an apparently sick coyote. He was saved by his father. Before the attack, about a block away, the coyote had attacked and bitten the leg of a man walking his children to his car outside a home. After the attack, the coyote chased and bit a jogger on a nearby street but ran away when kicked; the police shot and killed the coyote, which tested negative for rabies. * On May 22, 2015, in Irvine, a three-year-old girl was picking up after their dog that she, her twin sister, and her mother had been walking, when a coyote ran out of a hedge and attempted to bite the back of her neck, but was saved by her mother and other nearby adults. After the attack, the Department of Fish and Wildlife attempted to track and trap the coyote. Before the attack, a coyote had reportedly chased another girl in the same area. * On May 22, 2015, in Irvine at Silverado Park, a two-year-old girl was in her garage when the door was opened and a coyote in the driveway came in and bit her on the neck and cheek. * On October 14, 2015, in Irvine, a thirty-one-year-old man and his three-year-old son were attacked by a coyote while they were in a garden. * On October 9, 2016, in Irvine at Springbrook Park, a coyote bit a six-year-old boy. The boy's father along with bystanders shouted at it and one woman threw sand, and the coyote ran away. * On December 2, 2022, in Woodland Hills, a toddler was dragged away by a coyote from her front lawn, but was rescued by her father. The incident was caught on security camera footage. Coyote attack on teenagers in California: * On July 22, 2016, a coyote bit a seventeen-year-old girl on her leg at Grant Rea Park in Montebello.

References