WINTER PARK, FL (WESH) “Walle,” a Maltese-Yorkie mix, weighed just six pounds, but was bigger than life in the Sullivan home.

Now he’s gone, attacked and killed early Monday by a pack of coyotes that have been living in the woods behind the Sullivans’ house on Lander Road in Winter Park.

Chris Sullivan and his wife Carolyn got the dog six years ago, right after they were married, and it’s been a central part of the lives of their two children.

Sullivan says the attack happened near the Mayflower Retirement center just off Aloma Avenue.

It happened “between the easement next to our house.” There were three” coyotes, he said.

It’s been a devastating experience for the family, Sullivan said, at times his voice cracking as he spoke.

“The nature of the trauma and then my 3-year-old, he didn’t know until he came home from school and wow, that was by far the worst,” Sullivan said.

Next to the Sullivan’s home are thick woods where the coyote population appears to thrive.