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Hamilton police say a woman is distraught after a coyote snatched away her small dog early Tuesday at the beach strip.

Police said the woman and her dog, Joey, a small white coloured Chihuahua, were walking along the Waterfront Trail of the beach strip sometime after 1:30 a.m. when they stopped near a bench.

According to the woman, the coyote appeared and grabbed the dog and dragged it away.

Police said Victim Services was called to help the shaken woman. Animal Services has since been unable to find the dog or the coyote. Police do not believe the dog was on a leash at the time it was dragged away.

The attack comes less than a month after a Goldendoodle named Holly was attacked and killed by a pack of coyotes on the Bruce Trail.

And then on Oct. 25, a 10-year-old boy was jumped from behind by a coyote on the Waterfront trail of the Beach Strip. The boy's mother said the dog didn't bite him, but stood on his chest for a few moments and showed its teeth, before the boy punched the dog and it ran off.

Despite the recent activity, Coyote experts say there is no reason to suspect the animals are in greater numbers or more aggressive this year in the Hamilton area.

The Ministry of Natural Resources says coyote numbers do not appear to have substantially increased in recent years. Based on reports from deer hunters, a spokesperson said, numbers peaked "in 2009 or 2010 and since then numbers seem to have been relatively stable or declining slightly across most of southern Ontario."

A spokesperson from Coyote Watch, a volunteer group that monitors sightings, said this year has been a typical one for coyotes.