WORCESTER, Mass. - The Worcester Coyote Tracker group was started with the hopes of spreading the word about coyotes in the area to keep pets safe after the group's founder had a dog get attacked.

“So, this is basically the Coyote Highway," Chris Demma said, walking around his neighborhood. "They come, this is their route.”

Chris Demma and his dogs Finley and Albie are self-taught ‘coyote trackers’ with experience.

“These are not my dog tracks right here," Demma said. "These are all coyote tracks that recently came through and it's the same spot all the time. They go right through here and right back up to the tracks.”

Demma has lived in a wooded part of Worcester near train tracks for most of his life and says coyotes never used to be an issue.

“Grew up here, never saw them. Never even knew coyotes existed when I was a kid," Demma said. "And now you can't get away from them.”

On Christmas Eve about 6 years ago, Demma said Finley got out, and if it wasn’t for Albie, probably would’ve been killed by a pack of coyotes.

“This is where it all happened. This is right where Albie was, right there when we couldn't find Finley," Demma said, recounting the night. "And she was kind of acting all bizarre. We didn't know what was going on. I was calling out the Finley didn't know where she was. (Albie) dragged me over here... pulled me straight up this hill and right at the top of that hill on those railroad tracks was Finley just balled up in the middle of the tracks, a bloody mess. Blood all over her; couldn't move. Worst day of my life.”

Once they found Finley, Demma rushed the German Shepherd to an emergency vet.

“Tufts was incredible," Demma said. "She might have had, I don't know, maybe 40 or 50 stitches between her legs, her arms, her head, her neck. They were like, ‘No way it was coyotes’. They thought it was a bear.”

Finley needed a lot of medical care, costing thousands of dollars according to Demma, but he said the road to recovery was quicker than expected. And now they take precautions when it comes to coyotes. He recommends motion activated cameras and now utilizing social media to spread the word about the predators.

“That's kind of the reason why I started that Coyote Tracker page is because I wanted everybody to know what is going on here in the city, that you do have to be really careful with your pets," Demma said, "and you don't know when it's going to happen, until it happens.”

Demma believes coyote attacks can happen at any time and said the goal is to keep families safe.

“Our pets are part of our family, and we got to do what we can to protect them," Demma said, "and that's what we're doing.”