Coyote Attacks

On July 20, in my fenced yard in Encino, I frightened a coyote into letting go of my tiny, terrified dog. The animal saw me coming, grabbed the dog in his jaws and began to run. Fortunately my screaming scared him off.

Coyotes have been roaming the streets and nesting behind the fences on the hillsides above our homes in increasing numbers since last year.

They jump over the fences into our yards in search of small animals to feed their young. At night we are awakened by the screeching of animals being eaten alive, accompanied by the howling of the coyotes. We are a neighborhood being held hostage.

Other cities have reported incidents of attacks on children by coyotes. Does a small child have to be attacked in our city before the Animal Regulation Commission rescinds its moratorium on coyote trapping in the Santa Monica Mountains? .

It seems incredible to me that a problem that poses a threat to children and small animals, and terrorizes an entire neighborhood, seems to be unsolvable.

Animal regulation officials suggest fences that partially cover the yard be erected to deter the coyotes. This is an impractical, expensive and unaesthetic suggestion.

I have also been told to keep the dogs indoors, which is necessary but unfair since we have fenced yards.

Why should we as a society accept attacks on small pets as an act of nature and do nothing?

It is no longer sufficient to merely fence in our yards to protect our children and pets.

We must do the humane thing and return to the use of trapping to cut down on the exponential growth of the coyote population.

MYRNA T. FABRICK

Encino