Coyotes killed one of my neighbors jack russels. I don't hesitate to thump one every chance I get. They also killed a few of their cats...but who cares about that...not me
Guess if I got hungry enough I'd kill and consume a Jack Russell (or a mutt, or a ?).
Coyotes are predators, and the only way they get dinner every day is to kill something and
eat it. Mostly, they stick to mice, rodents and the odd rabbit, but when nothing else is
presented and the belly is growling they'll go for the easiest food source they can get, and
if that happens to be someones kitty or pup...well, to them dinner is dinner.
FWIW, I wouldn't hesitate to drop the hammer on any critter that was threatening my
family or my cats. It would not just be some knee-jerk reaction out of fear, and it would
be nothing more than saving my cats life. There would be no joy or pleasure
in the act, and it would only be done to preserve one life over that of another.
We go and build housing developments right in the middle of their territory, and then gripe
because the indigent critters want to use our pets as a food source. Well, we did take away
the food sources they had, so what the heck did we expect?