Mange and Sick-Looking Coyotes: Who to Call

This is general information, not veterinary, medical or legal advice. For an injured or aggressive animal, a bite, a pet attack or a suspected rabies exposure, call your doctor, your vet, local animal control, or the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD).

Reviewed by the editorial desk against the cited sources. The desk claims no wildlife-biology, veterinary or medical credential; see our editorial policy.

A coyote that looks thin, hairless, injured or oddly unafraid worries people, and the instinct is often to help. The agencies’ advice is the opposite: stay back and call. This page supports our guide on safe responses to a nearby coyote and sends you to who to call in Pima County and Arizona.

The short answer

1. Keep your distance and keep pets and children away.
2. Do not feed, touch, corner or try to capture the animal.
3. Do not haze it. Hazing is for wary coyotes; for a sick-looking, cornered, denning or pup-protecting animal, keep your distance and call.
4. Note the place, time and what the animal is doing, and call AZGFD or local animal control.
5. If anyone or any pet has been bitten, scratched or touched it, call your doctor or vet as well.

Why the agencies say to stay away

The CDC says “the best way to avoid rabies in the U.S. is to keep your distance from wildlife,” and to never approach animals that appear injured, sick or dead (CDC, Preventing Rabies). It also says to report an animal that is not acting normally.

AZGFD says the same in its rabies reminders: keep a safe distance from wildlife, especially animals behaving abnormally, such as those that appear aggressive or lack a fear of humans. AZGFD adds that rabies activity in principal host animals can affect other mammals, including coyotes (AZGFD news release, April 14, 2025).

What a sick-looking coyote may be, and what we cannot tell you

A coyote can look unwell for several reasons. This desk cannot diagnose an animal from a description or a photo, and the agencies we are allowed to cite do not give a visual checklist that separates one condition from another. So we do not offer one. Hair loss or a rough coat, limping, wandering in daylight, or lack of fear are all reasons to stay away and describe what you saw to AZGFD or animal control. They are not reasons to approach for a closer look.

Who to call

• AZGFD for a sick, injured or abnormally behaving wild animal. AZGFD says to report an animal bite, or an animal acting suspicious, to the department. Per AZGFD, your local AZGFD office takes calls 8 to 5, Monday to Friday, and the after-hours and weekend dispatcher is 623-236-7201 (AZGFD, Living with Coyotes, accessed 2026-11-14). If a coyote is approaching or has bitten a person, call 911 and seek medical care (AZGFD, April 7, 2023). Numbers change, so confirm on azgfd.com.
• Local animal control for stray or aggressive animals. Pima Animal Care Center dispatch is 520-724-5900, ext. 4 (confirm at pima.gov). The CDC suggests calling animal control about strays. See Pima County animal control and wildlife calls.
• Your doctor after any bite or scratch.
• Your vet after any contact between a pet and a wild animal.

AZGFD says it does not respond to calls to relocate or remove coyotes unless they are a public safety concern, and that people needing help relocating wildlife should contact a licensed wildlife removal business (AZGFD, Living with Coyotes). So say plainly why you are calling: unusual behavior, a bite, a threat to people or pets.

You can also use report a coyote encounter.

Do not feed a coyote that looks weak

AZGFD says it is unlawful to feed wildlife, other than birds and tree squirrels, in Maricopa, Pinal and Pima counties under A.R.S. 13-2927 (AZGFD, April 7, 2023; A.R.S. 13-2927). Some cities and counties have their own ordinances. Confirm with AZGFD. More on this is in our Arizona coyote rules for residents.

If a person or pet has contact with the animal

• Person bitten or scratched: wash immediately with soap and water for 15 minutes and seek medical care (CDC, Preventing Rabies). The CDC says post-exposure treatment must be given as soon as possible after an exposure (CDC, About Rabies).
• Pet in contact with the animal: call your veterinarian and local animal control. The CDC says to keep pets up to date on rabies vaccines and away from wild animals as much as possible.

Our guide on rabies risk from wildlife covers the CDC wording in more detail.

Prevent problems around your home

Food and garbage make wildlife comfortable near homes. AZGFD lists food (pet food, garbage, fallen fruit, rodents and other prey), water (pet bowls, fountains, pools) and shelter (dense low shrubs, storm drains, space under sheds or porches) as attractants, and advises feeding pets indoors, securing garbage and putting it out the morning of pickup (AZGFD, Living with Coyotes). Also, University of Arizona Cooperative Extension advises securing garbage lids, feeding pets indoors and picking up fallen fruit (UA Extension, Coyotes). See protect pets and children from coyotes and signs a coyote may be aggressive.

What we could not source

Mange: none of the allowed sources we opened describes mange in coyotes (UC IPM’s coyote page does not discuss it), so we make no statement about its cause, spread or course. Whether AZGFD wants calls about a coyote that only looks mangy is also not stated on the pages we could open; ask AZGFD.