Another dog has been attacked by the wolf-dog loose in the Coombs area, north of Nanaimo, on Vancouver Island.

Resident Trevor Hocking was walking his dog Riley, a six-year-old Australian Shepherd, last Thursday before he went to work.

“He saw a couple deer, so he went running after them. And then when he was running back to me, there was the wolf-dog right behind him, and it latched onto his rear end and knocked him right to the ground and, started chewing on him,” Hocking said.

“So I ran up to them as fast as I could, to try and break it up. And thankfully, that was enough to make the wolf-dog walk away.”

Hocking said he kept following the wolf-dog and yelling at it and eventually it left.

“That was the only thing going through my mind at that time, was just, I don’t want to lose this guy. So I did whatever I could to try and make it stop.”

Last November, it is believed that the wolf-dog killed a family’s dog staying at the Coombs Country Campground.

Residents in the area have been raising concerns about the wolf-dog since early November. It is unclear where the animal came from or how it ended up in the area, though there are rumours it was dumped from a vehicle, circulating in the community.

Following a series of encounters, an organization called Find Lost and Escaped Dogs (FLED) offered its help to try and trap the animal. But it pulled out amid growing animosity from the community.

FLED co-founder Gary Shade told Global News last year that the situation has highlighted frustrating gaps in the way animals are managed on the island.

“(The BC Conservation Officer Service) said they wouldn’t touch it because it’s not a true wolf, its a hybrid,” he said. “Animal control has got limitations on what they can do … and does not have anybody who is qualified to use a tranquilizer gun, where conservation officers do.”

In a statement, the Regional District of Nanaimo said the local animal control contractor did set up a trap, but the district has no jurisdiction on Crown land.