4 MORE VALLEY ANIMALS FOUND SKINNED SINCE ATTACK ON PUG PAL.

Byline: Amy Collins Daily News Staff Writer

Four dogs and one cat have been found partially skinned in the San Fernando Valley since Pal the pug was skinned alive in April, animal control officials said Tuesday.

The latest victim, a 25-pound black and tan terrier cross-breed, was killed Sunday in the 22000 block of Ballinger Street of Chatsworth. It had several puncture wounds on its head and neck and was missing a large portion of its skin from the base of its neck to the tail, officials said.

City animal control officials say all the attacks undoubtedly were caused by coyotes, but some in the animal care community, including the Society to Prevent Cruelty to Animals, suspect it may be a person skinning the animals.

``Some animal attacks may in fact be coyotes, but some may not,'' said Madeline Bernstein, the president of the SPCA in Los Angeles. ``They're not capable of skinning, and certainly not in patterns.''

Bernstein's organization had opposed vigorously the city's stance that a coyote attacked the pug, but was unaware new skinning incidents had been reported.

Dena Mangiamele, the city veterinarian, conducted a necropsy Tuesday of the Chatsworth dog and confirmed it was a coyote attack.

``This pattern's been around forever,'' Mangiamele said of the missing hide and puncture wounds revealed when the dog's fur was shaved from its neck.

``You see the bite wounds, every veterinarian knows what bite wounds look like,'' Mangiamele said during the necropsy, which was conducted at the West Valley shelter in Chatsworth.

Pal the pug was found April 7 in the 16000 block of Morrison Street in Encino. Since then, Tootsie, a poodle, was found April 30 in the 23000 block of Califa Street in Woodland Hills; a domestic shorthair cat was found June 18 in the 16000 block of Moorpark Street in Encino; Luke, an Italian greyhound, was found Aug. 29 in the 16000 block of Morrison Street in Encino; and a Japanese spaniel cross-breed was found Sept. 11 in the 4000 block of Coldstream Terrace in Tarzana, according to Peter Persic, the spokesman for the city's Department of Animal Regulation.

Additionally, a person called the city about two months ago to report a skinned cat in his Woodland Hills back yard near Oxnard Boulevard and Oso Avenue, said Dennis Kroeplin, the wildlife officer for the city of Los Angeles.

Kroeplin said the cat already had been disposed of and thus was unconfirmed by the department. But since coyotes had been reported recently in that neighborhood, Kroeplin said he assumed it was another coyote attack.

In the June 18 cat attack, a number of internal organs had been eaten and the ribs had been chewed, Kroeplin said.

Persic said the number of coyote incidents has increased dramatically from a year ago. There were 342 total complaints from July 1996 through Monday, including 19 dogs killed, 84 cats killed and 14 dogs injured. Of the total complaints, 285 were from the West Valley and of those, 135 occurred during the past four months, Persic said.

Kroeplin said the coyotes would have left the animals skinned only if they were disturbed by a sight or sound. ``If he's disturbed from his kill, then he leaves the body in that state,'' he said.

The SPCA is investigating a number of strange reports since the pug attack, Bernstein said. They are keeping an eye on locations of cult activities and even checked into a college student who used a stuffed pug in an art exhibit. ``We found a whole host of interesting leads,'' she said.