City plan to trap and relocate coyotes draws SPCA criticism
Animal rights organizations question effectiveness as way to manage numbers
A $30,000 city contract to trap and relocate coyotes is raising debate about how to deal with a growing population of the wild canines.
Montrealers have been reporting coyotes for years, particularly in neighbourhoods on the north end of the island, said Émilie Thuillier, the borough mayor of Ahuntsic-Cartierville.
Normally, coyotes, which often travel along railway tracks, fear humans and tend to prowl at night, Thuillier said in an interview.
“There are coyotes in all North American cities,” she said.
But some recent sightings suggest the animals, whose presence has been reported in 11 boroughs, might be losing their fear of people, which is causing concern in the north-end borough.
Thuillier said there are hundreds of sightings of coyotes each year, but it’s possible many of them could be the same animal, so it’s hard to know how many there are.
In the Parc Frédéric Back in St-Michel, a huge green space in the old Miron Quarry that was formerly a landfill site and recycling centre, 19 coyotes were trapped last fall, she said.
“When humans react to them well, coyotes remain wild and are afraid of them,” Thuillier said.
That includes not feeding them and not littering or leaving out edible garbage, she said.
The borough has conducted workshops for children in elementary schools and for adults in local parks to develop awareness of coyotes and how to behave if you see one.
If you encounter a coyote, try to scare it away by waving your arms to look threatening and screaming loudly, experts advise. Do not turn your back on it or run, they say.
People have been “living with coyotes without knowing it” for years, and the city would like to keep it that way, said Thuillier, who is working on a coyote-control program to be announced in the next few weeks.
But sometimes, Thuillier said, when coyotes become a problem, it is necessary to trap them live and remove them to a wild setting.
That is why city council approved a $29,229 contract Monday with Groupe Prévost-Fortin Inc. to track and trap coyotes on the island of Montreal.
The city is also working with the Université de Sherbrooke to review scientific literature and best practices on urban coyotes.
“No employee of the city of Montreal is capable of trapping a coyote,” said Thuillier, which is why it’s necessary to bring in outside experts.
But animal rights organizations say trapping and displacing coyotes is cruel and isn’t an effective way to keep down their numbers.
“It does not solve the problem because other coyotes will come to replace them,” said Anita Kapuscinska, communications manager of the Montreal SPCA. “A lot of research shows that trapping and relocating them can be cruel and waste public funds,” she added.
Several opponents of live trapping of coyotes tweeted criticisms of the city contract Tuesday.
Kapuscinska said that rather than displacing coyotes, the city should focus on public-awareness campaigns and education.
Other methods of control include always keeping dogs on a leash, not leaving food garbage outside and fencing vegetable gardens to keep out intruders, she said.
Kapuscinska also recommended that the city consult Coyote Watch Canada, an organization that promotes peaceful cohabitation with the animals.
“Vancouver has found a way to coexist with coyotes,” she said.
A lot of research shows that trapping and relocating them can be cruel and waste public funds.