4:29pm UK, Wednesday July 16, 2003

Ozzy Osbourne's wife hailed him as a hero after he wrestled a coyote to save the family's favourite dog.

The rocker tackled the predator when it got into the garden of their Beverly Hills mansion and attacked Pipi, Sharon Osbourne's beloved Pomeranian.

180 Ozzy Osbourne mouth open looking scary

Ozzy gets teeth into coyote

"Ozzy heard the screams and fought and got Pip out of the coyote's mouth," she told American magazine US Weekly.

The dog made a full recovery following surgery.

But the former Black Sabbath frontman was unable to rescue the family's black chihuahua, Lulu, which was killed by coyotes.

"It's so heartbreaking," Sharon said, adding that they have now thrown a poisoned chicken over the garden fence in an attempt to kill the prairie wolves.