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A woman in Mississauga claims she and her dog were attacked by multiple coyotes.

Mary Smith says that on April 30, she was walking her dog Cricket on the Etobicoke Creek Trail at night when a pack of six coyotes approached her.

Smith says that she fended off the coyotes with a stick she found nearby. She says she also tried to make herself appear bigger by yelling and lifting her arms up. She says the animals bit her pant legs and chased her dog, who was able to escape them.

She was able to fend the coyotes off and able to call out to passersby for help.

Smith also says that the coyotes that attacked her were coywolves, a term for a hybrid of wolf and coyote. Most coyotes in Eastern North America are a mix of coyote, wolf and dog through generations of mixed breeding.

Smith says she called animal services about the incident but was told nothing could be done and 'they were here first.'

"I have to say they have all these trails all over but you can’t walk down them because there’s too many coyotes, coywolves, and puppies now," Mary said. "A lot of people tell me that they don’t see them because they’re not looking for them. I know what to look for and I can see them. You may not think that they’re there but they are."

When asked about the incident, animal services said nothing could be done because there was no way to tell if the attack had really happened. They also say that they have no plans for a culling or any other extreme measures for coyotes in Mississauga, as attacks are rare—even lower than dog attacks.

Also, coyotes are good for environments and urban areas as they hunt and keep the rodent populations down. Coyotes often become less afraid and bolder around humans when they are fed by people.

The best thing to do is respect them from a distance as they are wild animals. animal services say.

Smith says she and her dog are fine after the attack but were lucky. She hopes that the city will do something about the number of coyotes in the area.