For Immediate Release: October 21, 2020
Man Charged with Felony Animal Cruelty in Illegal Trapping
and Fatal Maiming of a Coyote Pup in Los Angeles
Pressure from Wildlife Protection Organizations Results in Felony and Misdemeanor Charges
LOS ANGELES, CA—A thorough investigation and sustained pressure from California-based Project Coyote, along with support from PETA, have resulted in Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey filing two criminal charges against Richard Wallem. The District Attorney found that Mr. Wallem committed felony animal cruelty and misdemeanor use of an illegal trap when he trapped a coyote pup in the Valley Village neighborhood adjacent to North Hollywood on the Fourth of July weekend this year, then failed to check the illegal leghold trap for over 24 hours.
A video released on Project Coyote’s YouTube page shows in graphic and tragic detail the coyote pup struggling desperately to get free of the trap in the brutal summer heat. Despite the help of a local teen who discovered the terrible scene after hearing cries of distress, the unfortunate young coyote suffered irreparable injuries and was euthanized by Los Angeles Animal Services.
“This poor pup suffered an agonizing and needless death, as do thousands of coyotes across the country,” said Project Coyote’s Southern California Representative Randi Feilich. “Indiscriminate killing of coyotes through cruel means such as trapping destabilizes their social structure, which can lead to more coyotes breeding at younger ages and higher pup survival. Best practices include letting coyotes self-regulate to biological carrying capacity and using deterrence methods such as hazing and not feeding wildlife.”
An investigation revealed that Mr. Wallem allegedly set the trap following a GoFundMe campaign organized by Valley Village resident Lisa Johnson Mandell, who solicited money from neighbors under the deceptive guise of “humane wildlife removal.”
“Project Coyote applauds the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office for fighting animal cruelty by enforcing the law. We also find it absolutely unacceptable that one person initiates a campaign to remove native wildlife from a neighborhood, all the more so when the methodology is pawned off as ‘humane’ when clearly the outcome will be the death of a particular animal that is not causing harm or threatening anyone,” said Project Coyote’s Advisory Board Member and Legal Counsel Don Lipmanson. “As humans continue to alter and shrink the natural landscape, wildlife is forced to seek food and shelter in our neighborhoods, creating a moral obligation for humans to make every reasonable effort to coexist with creatures who have a will and a right to survive.”
Proposition 4, passed by California voters in 1998, bans body-gripping traps (including leghold traps), snares and Conibear kill traps for commercial and recreational trapping. The City of Los Angeles also enacted further restrictions in 2014 banning all body-gripping traps for any purpose. Project Coyote’s Coyote Friendly Communities program offers humane and proactive educational resources, tools and expertise to help communities peacefully and safely coexist with coyotes and other wild neighbors. Learn more here.
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Project Coyote, a national nonprofit organization headquartered in Northern California, is a North American coalition of wildlife educators, scientists, ranchers, and community leaders promoting coexistence between people and wildlife, and compassionate conservation through education, science, and advocacy. Visit ProjectCoyote.org for more information and follow Project Coyote on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.