'Dog' rescued by driver who struck it turns out to be wild coyote

Dec. 4 (UPI) -- A Manitoba man who struck what he thought was a dog on his way to work loaded the animal into his back seat and only later discovered the canine was a coyote.

Eli Boroditsky said he was on his way to work at the Bothwell Cheese factory in New Bothwell, south of Winnipeg, when an animal ran out in front of his car and was clipped by the vehicle.

"I thought it was a German shepherd or a husky," Boroditsky told CBC News. "I didn't think it was a wild animal."

The man loaded the injured animal into his back seat and drove the rest of the way to work, where a coworker took a look and informed him the animal was a coyote.

"It is amazing how docile it was. I was petting it," Boroditsky said.

Aviva Cohen, another co-worker, was able to text a wildlife rehab center and a conservation officer was dispatched to the center to take the coyote from Boroditsky's back seat.

Zoe Nakata, executive director of the Wildlife Haven Rehabilitation Center, told CNN the coyote, estimated to be between 1 and 3 years old, is "getting stronger by the day."

She said the coyote is recovering from injuries including head trauma and scrapes to its face and leg. Officials expect the coyote to be released back into the wild in a few weeks.