Animal rights advocates protest decision to trap and kill coyotes

By: LOUISE CANNON - Staff Writer | Monday, July 26, 2004 8:58 PM PDT ∞

SAN DIEGO ---- A dozen animal rights activists gathered outside the Department of Fish and Game office Monday morning to protest the department's decision to trap and kill coyotes that reportedly were attacking pets and threatening residents at an Oceanside senior community.

The demonstration took place several hours after federal trappers called in by Fish and Game finished their coyote hunt near the Ocean Hills Country Club, a gated community in southeastern Oceanside along the border of the 110-acre Calavera Preserve in Carlsbad.

The trappers caught and killed four coyotes since starting Thursday night, said Steve Edinger, assistant chief for the Department of Fish and Game office that covers San Diego and three other Southern California coastal counties.

Protesters, surprised and angry that federal trappers had already finished their work before Monday's gathering, said that killing the coyotes would not solve the problem.

They carried signs that read: "Anyone heard of a fence?" and "If you don't like coyotes, don't move into their back yard."

"We wanted to get here before (they trapped and killed coyotes) to persuade them to research the situation," said Jane Cartmill, a member of San Diego Animal Advocates. "You won't solve the problem by killing the coyotes."

Coyotes had become a growing concern this year for some Ocean Hills residents. Some residents of the 116-home community said coyotes killed three small pets in the last two months and had been seen roaming the neighborhood streets, even stalking people as they walked their dogs.

The community's board of directors voted July 15 to hire an exterminator to trap and kill the coyotes. Two days after the board's decision, the Department of Fish and Game stepped in and declared the coyotes a public threat. The department decided to bring in federal trappers instead of letting the board use a private exterminator.

Cartmill said she has researched coyotes since reports of similar problems in Poway several years ago. She said more coyotes will return to the Ocean Hills area to "fill in" for the coyotes that were killed. She said residents need to change their behavior to deter the coyotes.

She said residents should install a 6-foot gate to keep the predators away from pets, not leave small pets outside alone, and put lidded trash cans outside on the day of trash pickups.

"We have to learn how to coexist with wildlife," she said. "They've chosen to live close to a wildlife reserve. The quick and dirty (solution) is to kill the coyotes, but they won't go away."

Residents who were in favor of killing the animals said last week that they've tried every common sense approach to keeping the coyotes at bay. But the animals, some said, have become aggressive and bold.

Megan Sewell, a member of Animal Advocates and president of the Students Against Animal Suffering at University of California-San Diego, said she has never seen an aggressive coyote.

She lives in Tierrasanta and has seen coyotes ---- and sometimes much larger mountain lions ---- on the other side of her backyard fence, where her small beagle often runs around supervised, she said.

"You have to keep your animals indoors if you can't watch them," she said. "You do the same thing you would do if you lived by a freeway. It's all common-sense stuff."

Contact staff writer Louise Cannon at (760) 901-4151 or lcannon@nctimes.com.

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