A dog has been spotted traveling alongside a pack of coyotes near a home on Tucson's west side. Wildlife camera footage showed the dog and coyotes stopping for water on Oct. 29, 2026, and they were regular visitors to the area during the two weeks afterward. The homeowner who captured the footage, Patricia Suflita Wilson, says she hopes the animal can be safely rescued soon.
Wilson installed a wildlife camera about 10 feet from her home, where she normally sees javelinas, deer and bobcats pass through, according to the Arizona Daily Star. On Oct. 29, 2026, that camera captured something unusual: a dog and a group of coyotes stopping for a drink of water near North Silverbell and West Goret roads. Per Wilson's account, the dog and the coyote pack have been visiting the area regularly for two weeks since.
Wilson has said it's unusual for a dog to be accepted by coyotes in the first place, and she and others have speculated the dog might be Raven, a dog that reportedly ran away from a nearby Pima Animal Care Center facility while being brought to an adopting family. That identification remains unconfirmed, and the dossier of known facts does not establish whether the dog pictured is in fact Raven or what became of her after she went missing.
Why a Dog Would End Up Running With Coyotes
Dogs are generally vulnerable to coyotes as prey, particularly smaller dogs, but a dog joining a coyote pack is uncommon, though it can sometimes happen. The Arizona Game and Fish Department notes that although coyotes live in packs, they usually travel and hunt alone or in loose pairs, which makes the repeated sightings of a dog moving with a group notable.
The state wildlife agency also warns that unattended small pets can become easy targets in urban and suburban areas. According to the Arizona Game and Fish Department, yards with fruit on the ground, pet food, unsecured garbage cans or unattended small dogs and cats are often easy food sources for coyotes. The agency advises residents to keep small pets indoors or in a roofed enclosure and to supervise them outside during early morning or nighttime hours, when coyotes are most active.
Wilson has contacted Pima Animal Care Center and volunteer rescue groups in hopes of getting the dog safely captured. The shelter itself has been under considerable strain this fall. KGUN9 reports the facility currently houses nearly 500 dogs despite having only 218 kennels available, a crunch that intensified after 26 dogs were placed in PACC's care in early October following a neglect case that Animal Protection Officers investigated as hoarding.
October Brought a Flood of Strays
PACC has said October is one of its busiest months of the year, as strays pour in faster than adoptions can keep pace. The shelter told KGUN9 that not enough people are adopting to match the number of pets arriving, a dynamic that could complicate efforts to intake and place a dog that has spent weeks running loose with wildlife rather than in a shelter kennel.
A similar case played out earlier this year in Colorado Springs, where a dog named Ruger was spotted repeatedly near Patty Jewett Golf Course running with a coyote pack after going missing for nearly a year, according to The Dodo. Ruger's owner told the outlet, “I was happy to know the pack accepted him enough that he was kept safe,” after animal law enforcement officers with the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region were eventually able to secure him.
For now, the Tucson dog's fate remains unresolved. Wilson hopes the animal can be rescued soon, but whether it will be captured, and whether it truly is the missing dog Raven, has not been confirmed.
