'Abandoned puppy' found in California turns out to be a coyote

SAN DIEGO – A man walking his dog in San Diego found what he thought was an abandoned, newborn puppy and brought it home.

He called the San Diego Humane Society and turned the brown-and-black ball of fur over to animal welfare officers, who discovered the "puppy" was not what they thought it was.

"Our Humane Officers recently received a call about an abandoned puppy in a canyon in Tierrasanta," the San Diego Humane Society wrote in a Facebook post. "To their surprise, the little creature was actually a coyote pup!"

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that staff at the animal welfare group's Project Wildlife program will care for the coyote before they move it to a sanctuary with The Fund for Animals Wildlife Center, a group that prepares animals to be released back into the wild.

“It’s really difficult to tell the difference between a dog and a coyote pup, especially at just a few days old,” Project Wildlife Rehabilitation Director Lauren DuBois told the paper.