Debate on what has been attacking animals in Myakka City

A man in Myakka City says a wild animal has been attacking his pets, but he's unsure of what exactly it is.

Alan Helrich went out earlier this month to run some errands. When he got back at around 1:00 in the afternoon, he found one of his dogs, Apollo, bleeding.

"I went closer to examine him," Helrich said. "His neck had been slashed, and he was unfortunately expired at the time."

Unable to help Apollo, he began checking on his other dogs.

Einstein had several cuts on his face. And it took over ten minutes to find Duke, who was found in some bushes in a corner of the property.

"Either he was aggressively chased or dragged," Helrich said.

Both of the injured dogs are now doing fine.

After seeing the wounds on his dogs, Helrich believes it was a sharply clawed animal that hurt his pets.

"Panther, a bear, or, extremely unlikely, an extremely large bobcat," he said.

He thinks it was really a panther.

However, according to Gary Morse of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, Manatee County doesn't see many panthers, and from the information they got from the victims, it was most likely a canine-type attack, possibly a coyote.

"I'm not in a position to debate that," Helrich said. "But I would certainly wonder.

Regardless of what type of animal attacked his dogs, Helrich says he will be more vigilant when it comes to protecting them.