WATERLOO, Iowa — An Iowa man is battling officials who seized a coyote that the man calls his emotional support animal.
Matt Stokes told KCRG that the coyote was left behind by its mother after a pack made a den on his property in April. He left food and water out for the pup, who he named Drifter.
In October, a neighbor corralled the animal while it was roaming the neighborhood and contacted Waterloo animal control, The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reported. Officials seized the animal, citing local law that prohibits residents from keeping a coyote as a pet, KCRG reported. The animal was taken to the WildThunder Wildlife & Animal Rehabilitation Sanctuary, with the hopes of releasing it back into the wild.
Stokes told KCRG that he never felt unsafe around Drifter and that the coyote had served as his emotional support animal while he dealt with a serious infection. He says he has a doctor's note certifying Drifter as an emotional support animal and doubts that Drifter could survive in the wild.
“This is not an emotional support animal. This is a wild coyote that he took out of the wild and decided to make a pet,” said Tracy Belle, WildThunder director.
"This animal is a dog in a coyote's body," Stokes told The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier.
Stokes plans on hiring an attorney and applying for a license through the Iowa Department of Agriculture that could allow him to keep the coyote, according to the KCRG report.