TORONTO, Ont. – Toronto’s licensing and standards committee decided Tuesday to send a request for a “no kill” coyote policy to city staff for feedback.
The staff report will be presented to the committee in September.
Scarborough councillor Glenn De Baeremaeker had proposed the city adopt a “no kill” coyote policy after Toronto police shot and killed a coyote in Cabbagetown last month.
“I want to formalize that policy for staff and for emergency first responders,” De Baeremaeker told reporters at city hall on Tuesday.
“There are better ways to rid your neighbourhood of a coyote than resorting to extreme measures.”
De Baeremaeker, who requested a staff report on implementing the policy, is also calling for a ban on feeding coyotes as well as an education campaign.
De Baeremaeker argued that requests from residents to trap or shoot coyotes within city limits are “ill-advised and even dangerous,” both to residents and other animals.
According to De Baeremaeker, coyotes are rarely a threat to people. He said that in the last two years, Animal Services “has recorded a total of over 1,000 occurrences of dogs biting people. In the last two years there have been zero occurrences of coyotes biting people.”
The police shooting of a coyote in Cabbagetown on Feb. 11 had some groups calling for the city to put together an urban coyote plan.
The Association for the Protection of Fur-Bearing Animals wants council to enact a bylaw regulating the feeding of wildlife and adopt a “Living with Coyotes” educational program, and is offering to put the program together at no cost to the city.
The association has the support of the Toronto Wildlife Centre and the group Coyote Watch.
The group said coyote attacks are extremely rare with the last one reported by Toronto Animal Services happening more than 10 years ago when a woman received a minor bite after regularly feeding a wounded coyote.
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This Toronto Councillor is right about the feeding ban and very incorrect in suggesting that “the coyotes are not as dangerous as people believe”. The coyotes are very dangerous to humans, small animals and pets. He very clearly has not heard about the killing of an Ontario girl by coyotes, while visiting Cape Breton Island in the summer of 2011. During this season the coyotes are very hungry and are not afraid of humans, and as a result this will lead to attacks on humans and animals that are not prepared for a confrontation with one. We have one that comes to our property every night and directly up to our deck. He smells the scent of our dog and is very bold in his visits. I would never, ever feed any coyote and definitely would not go outside if there was a fear that he would be around the house. Most everyone here in Inverness County, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia walk with a large stick when they are out for a walk. We have had tourists stop us and ask why the people here all walk with big sticks. There is always the fear of an ambush. Many people here have lost their pets and small live stock to the coyotes here. Mr. Glenn De Baeremaeker had better do a little more research before making these kinds of suggestions. Especially in light of how beautiful looking they are, people may incorrectly believe that they can interact with these animals when in fact it would be very dangerous for them to do so.
And everyone keeps coming back to the one attack that happened in eastern Canada 2 years ago. Should I begin to list all the DOG attacks that have happened in those 2 years? Most people seem to only be going by what others have told them. word of mouth is not the best way to learn with this stuff. The best place to LEARN about this properly are the people fully trained! The Ministry of Natural Resources website is a GREAT place to start!
You’re absolutely right, Don. Coyotes AND dogs should be banned altogether.
Neither are good for anything anyway.
He should come over here to see how dangerous they are they are even attacking people because there is noting left for them to eat ..Cape Breton, Nova Scotia Canada.
About a month ago there was a Nature of Things episode on urban coyotes; the episode is available on-line. May I suggest it would be valuable for anyone who is looking for well-researched information on urban coyotes – these animals have adapted to urban living and are very different from their country cousins. I agree that there should be a ban on feeding coyotes, and also a ban on feeding ducks. It seems that the duck ponds in the city with citizens regularly bringing bread etc have created coyote feeding stations. Let the ducks migrate for the winter, not stay and be fed bread. With fewer ducks, there will be fewer coyotes (the number of offspring is shaped by food supply – with less food available, coyote litters are smaller).
I’ll tell you one thing…. if a coyote comes near my kid, you can be damned sure that it will live to regret those actions…. law or no law. DeBaeremaeker wants to put animal safety over human safety.
Which means that YOU will have a high chance of being attacked because you are attacking them! That is the WRONG way to handle a coyote (or most wild animals) that is near you! Go learn what to do and take care of yourself and appreciate wild life! heck many of us travel a few hours away to get close up views of wildlife, because people in the city of scared a lot of them away!
Coyotes don’t attack people who attack them. They flee. But, they DO attack people who are timid. Do some research before posting next time.
Reality is calling on line 2, Don.
Humans MUST remain at the top of the food chain and anything that threatens humans should be put down asap, if not sooner.
While I think that every effort should be made to subdue a nuisance coyote without killing it, a ‘ban’ on killing them is ridiculous. Picture the (unlikely) situation that a coyote is mauling a little girl, would you want a police officer who witnesses this to shoot it, or call animal control and wait for them to show up and sedate it because shooting the coyote is ‘banned’.
“Knowledge of actual coyote behaviour”? Like the dozens of documented attacks on humans every year? Or the actual people who’ve been killed by coyotes? Please. You demonstrate your lack of education. Country folks, who actually live with these animals, are laughing at your lack of ignorance. Coyotes are dangerous predators which have no business in urban environments. The people who are feeding them should be slapped with $500 or $1000 fines. What a joke! If you’ve been followed to your mailbox, you are in danger, but are just too foolish to know it.
Sorry I’d rather go back professionals at the Ministry of Natural Resources rather than some random anonymous in the comments section of 680news.com. You may want to start some research:
http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/FW/2ColumnSubPage/STDPROD_088694.html
Where does that document contradict anything I said? Brutal. At least read what you link to.
You could look up the statistics for coyote attacks on people, but why let the facts get in the way of a good rant.
OMG !!!!!!!!!!!! WHO WOULD BE STUPID ENOUGH TO FEED coyotes? OKAY THESE PEOPLE ARE JUST ASKING FOR TROUBLE ??? Its like feeding a lion ? morons ………..!
Chris Peters, I live in an area with packs of Coyotes and have been followed late at night to the mailboxes. Yet never once have I been attacked, nor has my dog. And judging by the number of cats the neighbours allow to roam free they haven’t either. Your comments are only meant to build hysteria and have no knowledge of actual coyote behaviour. Of course there are going to be the odd coyote that’s a problem but that can be said of any wild animals, and killing coyotes has been proven to actually increase numbers not lessen them.
I have no intention to create hysteria. Quite the contrary. I want a level headed debate about problem coyotes, not the coyotes that are living around humans and naturally fearful. The hysteria seems to now be coming from people trying to sensationalize the issue into an us vs. them. That is not the way to build a solution. I am asking the city and their services for the solution when a coyote is habituated to humans and has lost its fear. 4 years ago Animal Services said it had to be removed but they failed. They are the ones that are supposed to understand actual coyote behaviour, but unfortunately no one is really an expert as they coywolves are adapting very quickly and we aren’t keeping up. Many people are saying it has to be killed. I am saying it has to be chased out and kept out. What do you suggest Kim?
This story tells only a bit of what the councillor is proposing. The no-feed bylaw will be very helpful and will help prevent more coyotes from taking up residence in our neighbourhoods. For those coyotes that are already here, that alone will not force them out of our backyards. He is also proposing to remove your rights to have a Ministry of Natural Resources licenced trapper deal with the problem coyote by trapping it. Once that law is in place you can stay in your house because it won’t be safe in your backyard. The coyotes will own it. Oh, sorry, the councillor said that coyotes arent a threat. Tell that to the dead pets. Tell that to the girl bitten in Oakville. He is behind the times and listening to one side of a complicated issue.
Baeremaeker is correct about feeding the coyotes, however, a ban will not stop people from still doing it, and it will be hard to catch those who are. Baeremaeker’s views on not killing the animals is only one opinion. If any animal wanders into an area that threatens residents (especially ones as unpredictable as coyotes) they need to be neutralized… unfortunate, but necessary.