'It was horrible': Danville residents on high alert after string of coyote attacks

DANVILLE, Calif. (KGO) -- Drive down the streets of Danville, and you're met with scenes of picturesque suburbs, but over the summer, that picture got a little darker.

Rhea Saini was in her backyard with her dog, Bella, when out of nowhere a coyote snatched Bella away.

"I'm an only child, so she was like my little sister. And my parents loved her to death as well. And it was horrible," Saini said.

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Saini never found Bella, and her story is one of an increasing number of coyote attacks in the area.

However, it's not just animals that the residents are worried about. They also fear about what could come next.

"I think it's super important that we focus on it right now and prevent it from happening to a human because if it is a human, it's probably going to be a little kid or a baby," Saini said.

Saini says she was told by other neighbors, whose animals have suffered similar incidents, that wildlife authorities could only take action if a human was attacked.

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"My dog would do anything for our family," the girl's mother said.

It's left her and others in the community, like Sue Smith, feeling overwhelmed by a situation, they believe, is getting increasingly worse.

"It makes me feel like they're putting coyotes above humans," Smith said.

Both Smith and Saini say, they don't want the coyotes to be killed, they just to have the threat removed.

"I think if they could at least be removed to a natural area like the woods, the forest, something where they could do their thing, and not be impacting our direct families it would really help," Saini said.