Fight Over Wording Kills Coyote Survey
A proposal to draft a questionnaire about coyotes in the city has fallen through, City Council members said.
Residents and animal rights groups could not agree on a format for a survey, Councilwoman Patricia L. Bortle said.
The stalemate has killed officials’ hopes for an objective survey of how extensive the coyote problem is, Bortle said.
“It turned out to be a statement fight,” she said, “and that’s not what we had in mind.”
After months of complaints from residents about coyotes killing pets, the council in January proposed the survey.
Resident Sherry Zakowicz was appointed to work with animal rights activist Jane Garrison of Fullerton to draft the survey, Bortle said, but the two could not agree on language.
Jim Hasdon, a resident who has urged coyote controls, said at the council’s latest meeting: “I’m disappointed. . . . A large number of Villa Park residents feel the council has had a lack of action.”
Mayor Barry L. Denes assured Hasdon that the council has not dropped the issue. “We are not insensitive,” he said, adding that most of the council members have pets.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
