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© WTSPTwo-year-old Teddy got the brunt of the fight receiving a two-inch gash on his face.
A St. Petersburg man says his two German shepherds were attacked by a coyote in his back yard leaving one injured.

"It was just a horrible fight you know dogs whimpering and dogs crying," said Danny Stephen, who says he saw his two German Shepherds right outside his kitchen window in the a brutal fight Wednesday morning with a coyote.

"I can't even describe the noise. It was just like if a dog could scream, it would be screaming -- just an ungodly howl," Stephen said.

Two-year-old Teddy got the brunt of the fight receiving a two-inch gash on his face and luckily 1½-year-old Kira came out unharmed.


"The female came and went at the back of the coyote and they all went that way," Stephen explains.

Stephen says he saw the coyote hightail it out the front.

"It jumped back and completely cleared the fence. I just saw the paws and it went pad oomph."

Another thing that scares Stephen about this coyote attack is that his back yard is just feet away from the Pinellas Trail where people walk their dogs every day.

"They like to run along trails, so a common area is large power lines. The Pinellas Trail is another great example where they tend to show up so anywhere there's an open environment where there's an edge to it so they can quickly tuck in," said Dusty Showers, who is an animal removal expert.

FWC spoke to Stephen and determined there was a gate left open that allowed the coyote access to his yard.

"Canines will defend their space from a perceived threat. So there was no real nuisance behavior here it was just mother nature at work," said Gary Morse with FWC.

But for Stephen who loves his dogs like family says he would do, "anything to protect them. I hate to say it, but if it comes down to the dogs or the coyote -- the coyote's got to go."