Huntington Beach should trap coyotes, residents tell officials at town meeting

Huntington Beach residents had a message for city and state officials Monday night: Something needs to be done about the city’s coyotes.

Tensions ran high as residents, many of whom had lost a pet to a coyote attack, voiced anger and frustration during a town hall meeting at First Christian Church of Huntington Beach.

A five-member panel including Huntington Beach Police Chief Robert Handy and California Department of Fish and Wildlife Lt. Kent Smirl listened to residents who asked them to address the increasing number of coyote attacks on pets.

As of October, there had been 478 reported sightings of the feral canines in Huntington Beach this year and 78 reports of pets being injured or killed by coyotes, Handy said. All of last year, there were 37 reported attacks on pets, according to the Police Department.

There have been no reports of attacks on humans.

Many residents told the panel that they would like the city to consider hiring a trapper, like it did in 2010 and 2013 due to similar concerns from residents.

Some asked that coyotes be trapped and relocated, but Smirl said it is against state law to move wildlife from their natural habitat. He added that relocating the animals could spread diseases to other wildlife and would simply move the problem elsewhere.

Panelist Dan Fox, president of Chino-based Animal Pest Management Services, said any trapped coyotes must be euthanized.

Handy said it would cost the city $2,800 to $4,000 to hire a trapper, depending on how extensive the trapping is.

City, county and state officials have told residents that the best way to deal with coyotes is to “haze,” or scare, them, including making loud noises, throwing rocks or sticks and making oneself appear big. Such tactics help reinforce the wild animals’ fear of humans, Smirl said.

Longtime Huntington Beach resident Myron Jackson, 81, who lives near Springdale Street and Slater Avenue, said he and his wife feel like “prisoners in their home.” He and others believe that hazing is not effective.

“I’m not shaking hands with coyotes and playing lovey-dovey,” he said, adding that he would rather use a firearm to protect his beloved shih tzu.

Resident Richard Hart said the city has a public safety issue and that local and state officials need to be more proactive when dealing with coyotes.

Handy said that though he sympathizes with people who have lost pets to coyotes, city policy does not consider such attacks to be a safety concern.

Hart said he fears it would take an attack on a person, possibly a child, to make safety officials do something.

Orange resident Matthew Duncan, the Orange County representative of Victorville-based Union Members for the Preservation of Wildlife, said the best way to handle the coyote situation is to teach residents proper hazing techniques. He said trapping only would benefit the business doing the trapping.

“You can’t kill your way out of a coyote problem,” Duncan said.