Officials to trap and euthanize coyotes living in vacant house
The pack of coyotes that has moved into a vacant home in North Glendale will be euthanized once the animals are caught, a Los Angeles County official said Monday, adding that the focus “is on human life.”
County officials will assess areas around Brockmont Drive this week to decide where to set traps to catch several roaming coyotes that neighbors say have taken up residence in a burned, hollowed-out home that has sat vacant since November.
Neighbors say they fear the coyotes, whose pups have been raised on the street, could turn territorial and dangerous.
Once caught, the animals will be euthanized because they cannot be returned into the wild, said Ken Pellman, spokesman for the Los Angeles County Agricultural Commissioner/Weights and Measures.
Officials had planned to assess the site Monday, but stayed away because a flurry of media converged on the street, Pellman said.
The bait in the trap, called the Collarum, will be a pasty dog food, Pellman said. When the coyote eats the food, it triggers the release of a plastic-wrapped cable that snaps around the animal’s neck and holds it in place.
VIDEO: Collarum trapping coyotes
“It doesn’t choke the coyote,” Pellman added.
Once caught, the coyotes will be euthanized, he said.
“Our focus is on human life,” he said. “A human life takes precedence over a coyote’s life.”
In fact, releasing the coyotes into the wild is considered “cruel” and “a slow death,” Pellman said, because they’ve become too accustomed to living with humans and easy food sources, such as foraging through trash cans and fruit trees.
They would also be at the mercy of more aggressive animals in the wild, he added.
Officials had considered placing traps inside the fire-damaged home in the 300 block of Brockmont, but a county official decided the area was too open. The home’s owners, Brett and Lisa van den Berg, have given their permission for traps to be placed in the gutted, vacant structure, officials said.
