A California man has taken his heartbreak of losing a beloved pet and turned it into an entrepreneur business aimed at keeping other small pups safe.
Paul Mott explains that it was in September of 2014 that he lost his small dog Buffy to a vicious coyote attack.
Mott had taken his three dogs to a park in San Diego and was just getting them all back into his car when he heard Buffy yell.
He turned just in time to see his small dog hanging from a coyote’s mouth.
The wild dog ran up into the hills with his pet, never to be seen again.
"It was the most terrible thing. I cried for a week," Mott explains, "I felt so guilty. I felt so terrible. I've never been able to let it go."
But he didn’t wallow in his grief instead turning it into motivation.
Out of sadness came CoyoteVest, gear for small dogs that are meant to protect them from coyote attacks.
The small vests are made out of Kevlar and lined along the sides and collar with metal spikes to stop fangs from wrapping around small canine’s necks.
The CoyoteVest can also sport long, colorful, porcupine-like nylon whiskers along the spine to scare predators and/or keep their face away from the dog’s body.
“I’m trying to make the dog look bigger and strange and weird,” Mott comments, “You want the coyote to scratch its head and say, ‘I think I should find another target.’”
A third form of the vest can include an electric zapper that will shock the coyote should he find a way to get his jaws on your pet.
For this, the dog wears a black box around its neck that sends a shock down the black lining of the vest via remote, without affecting the canine wearer.
Mott explains that the vest isn’t just to stave off wild predators, though, that may be eyeing your pet for its next meal.
It may save your petite pup from an attack by a larger dog, as well.
“Customers are less worried about coyotes than large dogs, like pit bulls, and large livestock,” he states, “I think there’s even more people out there in the world that just want to make sure their dog is safe when they go to the dog park or dog beach.”
May your mini mutt now play in peace!
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