My apologies to everyone we told about the Animal Planet show “Weird, True and Freaky” which is running a segment on the Quizno’s coyote Adrian (see our blog archives for his original and accurate story). Please also note that we have deleted our original blog posting regarding the show so as not to refer further people to watch this show.
In my opinion, not only did the show fail to accurately depict Adrian, his physical state and the likely reasons why he entered the Quizno’s, but in the spirit of sensational “reporting”, the show also did a grave disservice to the species. Adrian was a perfectly healthy coyote who became extremely frightened and typically reticent after mistakenly wandering into Chicago’s downtown loop. Further, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health website, there has not been a confirmed case of rabies in a coyote in Illinois in the last 18 years – to imply that this animal had rabies is simply irresponsible.
I will be writing to Animal Planet to voice my extreme displeasure over these inaccuracies. I will post a copy of this letter on the blog.
Dawn