PROJECT COYOTE AND SUPPORTERS WILL URGE ARCADIA CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS TO RESCIND RECENT DECISION TO TRAP AND KILL COYOTES
at TONIGHT’S CITY COUNCIL MEETING
ARCADIA, Calif. – Tonight Project Coyote will speak out against the Arcadia City Council’s recent decision to spend up to $20,000 to trap and kill coyotes. Project Coyote will share scientific information that shows the trapping and killing coyotes is ecologically unsound, ethically indefensible and a waste of taxpayer dollars.
Project Coyote denounced the Arcadia City Council’s unanimous vote (5-0), cast on February 7, to trap and kill coyotes, which reversed the city’s former long-term approach of coexistence rather than killing.
That long-term approach had been instituted in January 2011, when the Arcadia City Council voted unanimously to replace the controversial coyote trapping program that had been in force with a coexistence plan that educated residents on the habits and ecological value of coyotes, and provided the residents with tools for keeping their families and pets safe.
“The current Council’s decision to resort to trapping coyotes will likely result in increased coyote populations and encounters,” said said Randi Feilich, Project Coyote Southern California Representative. “This decision undermines the long-term goals established by the city five years ago and goes against the city staff report recommending more education and a non-lethal approach to the presence of coyotes.” That report can be read here (see page 753).
“Trapping with indiscriminate snares is not only cruel, but can also kill non-target animals such as family pets and other local wildlife,” said Feilich. “Animals caught in snares slowly suffocate or endure painful injuries, often leaving orphans to starve.”
In addition, scientific evidence shows that trapping coyotes does not reduce their numbers. Coyote populations quickly bounce back even when as many as 70% of their populations are removed. Since California State law prohibits trapped wildlife from being relocated, animals caught in snares are killed when the trapper returns to check the snares.
Project Coyote has offered to work with the city to help Arcadia successfully adopt and adapt its successful Coyote Friendly Communities™ program, in lieu of trapping. “The keys to coexistence are education, communication, science, and behavior modification,” said Randi Feilich, Project Coyote’s Southern California representative.
Feilich, joined by other coyote advocates, will speak before the City Council at an upcoming meeting on February 21, and will urge the Council members to adopt a long-term coexistence plan instead of killing coyotes in an indiscriminate and inhumane manner.
What: Arcadia City Council Meeting
When: Feb. 21, 2017, 7pm
Where: Council Chambers/ 240 W. Huntington Drive/ Arcadia, California 91007
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Project Coyote is a national non-profit organization, comprised of a coalition of scientists, educators, ranchers and citizen leaders promoting compassionate conservation and coexistence between people and wildlife through education, science and advocacy. We work to change laws and policies to protect native carnivores from abuse and mismanagement, advocating coexistence instead of killing. We seek to change negative attitudes toward coyotes, wolves and other misunderstood predators by replacing ignorance and fear with understanding, respect and appreciation.