Laguna will keep trapping coyotes

Despite some residents’ claims that lawful trapping and killing of coyotes is inhumane, the Laguna Beach City Council on Tuesday voted to continue its trapping program for at least another year.

With the decision, the council members signaled their priority of keeping residents and their pets safe from the wild animals, which have shown a boldness, entering backyards and houses if doors are left open, according to residents.

Laguna Beach police reported at the meeting a “larger than average” number of coyote sightings and attacks since January — 83.

The council, with the 4-1 vote — Mayor Steve Dicterow dissented — approved a $30,000 contract with Critter Busters that calls for the Santa Clarita-based animal and pest control company to place and monitor traps at various locations throughout Laguna.

The issue was part of a larger discussion about how the city should spend $4.8 million in surplus from its 2014-15 fiscal year budget.

Regarding the coyotes, Mayor Pro Tem Toni Iseman, who has lived in her house since 1973, said she no longer sees squirrels, possums and raccoons scampering around the property.

“The population of low-hanging fruit [coyote prey] is gone,” Iseman said. “Living in fear is not OK. I commend police for all the steps they have taken. I’ve been to [community] meetings with people pleading with us to do something, and they are animal lovers. They love nature.... I can’t imagine leaving [Tuesday night] without knowing we’ve done everything we can to put things back together.”

Dicterow said he has scooped up his daughter’s 8-pound Pomeranian while encountering coyotes a handful of times, including in his yard, in the last six months, but did not favor trapping.

“We don’t need to be killing coyotes,” Dicterow said.

Laguna started trapping coyotes in July and, as of early December, had caught five animals, all of which were euthanized to comply with state law.

The city contracted with Animal Pest Management from July through late December, when it switched to Critter Busters because it was more cost effective, police Sgt. Tim Kleiser wrote in an email.

In addition to trapping, the city has used other strategies to deal with the apparent influx of coyotes in town.

Animal services officers carry paintball guns that shoot water-filled capsules to startle coyotes. Police held three community meetings to instruct residents on ways to deal with coyotes, such as not leaving doors open and not keeping food and water outside.

The city also placed yellow warning signs in areas where attacks or sightings had been reported, including Bluebird Canyon, and created an email address that allows residents to maintain regular communication with police about coyote activity.

These measures, though, were not enough, Laguna Police Chief Laura Farinella said, calling the 83 reported sightings and attacks “a lot.”

“I’m not saying that trapping has to be done all the time,” Farinella said. “It got to the point where the community was asking for something more.”

In November, a coyote entered through an open door of a home on Oak Street and snatched John Fischer’s Chihuahua from a bedroom while an infant slept a few feet away, he has previously said.

Fischer said what makes these coyotes different is that they seem to be permanent neighbors, not just occasional visitors from the surrounding hillsides.

“They have their babies here and there are no predators for them,” Fischer said. “If they continue to grow, it’s more of a safety issue. It’s hard for us to go out in the yard now. Something has to be done. I’m not suggesting to get rid of all coyotes.”

Resident Judie Mancuso, a resident of Laguna for 20 years, insisted that coyotes and humans can coexist.

When Mancuso discovered that four coyotes were using a space under her deck as a den, she cleared brush and removed a bird feeder to give the intruders an incentive to leave, she told the council.

“Laguna Beach should not spend money on trapping coyotes,” Mancuso said. “Residents should take responsibility in learning how to live with wildlife. We pride ourselves on protecting marine life and birds, but kill our land mammals with poison and traps.

“It is arrogant to think you can sanitize your environment by killing.”

Nearby cities handle coyotes differently.

Seal Beach officials hired a company to trap and asphyxiate coyotes in a mobile gas chamber filled with carbon dioxide after learning of 60 attacks on pets from 2013 to 2014, the Los Angeles Times reported in December 2014.

Huntington Beach officials adopted a graduated approach last month. Less-punitive techniques such as scare tactics are used before police would resort to trapping a coyote if it attacked a human or pet.

In Laguna, “Critter Busters will be used for trapping at one- or two-week intervals based on the number of coyotes trapped, reports of sightings, attacks and calls,” Kleiser said in the email. “We will then reassess from there if and where trapping may be needed.”

Critter Busters officials could not be reached for comment as of early Wednesday afternoon to explain the types of traps they use and how coyotes are euthanized if caught.

Residents can share coyote-related concerns by emailing the city at coyotes@lagunabeachcity.net.

For more information on coyotes, including protection tips, visit lagunabeachcity.net.