WildEarth Guardians

Tuesday, March 24, 2009
One Pricey Coyote: Greenwood Village Spends Over $9,000 to Kill One Coyote in a Public Park

Groups Criticize Cruel Program and Government Waste
Contact: WildEarth Guardians

GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo.-WildEarth Guardians and The Humane Society of the United States obtained invoices showing that the private shooter hired by Greenwood Village to shoot coyotes on sight in the city’s parks has charged over $9,000 in a four-week period. The shooter, Jay Stewart, reports killing one coyote, an adult female, in Westlands Park on February 19. While the groups have called for an end to the killing program because it is indiscriminate and cruel, they are now pointing out that it is wasteful government spending.

Greenwood Village officials claim that the one coyote Stewart reported killing was in response to a 14-year old boy that was reportedly attacked by a coyote. But that incident took place on December 31, nearly two months earlier. The attack itself has raised questions as police reports clearly state that the boy was left unharmed without even a scratch after the encounter. The boy’s mother did not report the incident until a week later and even then couldn’t wait at the police station long enough to file a report. Greenwood Village police failed to interview the boy until near two months after the incident. Greenwood Village’s coyote killing program continues despite no further incidents for nearly three months.

“Greenwood Village’s coyote killing program is not only indiscriminate, it is a gravy train for the coyote shooter,” stated Nicole Rosmarino of WildEarth Guardians. “The coyote killing is not protecting the public and is serving no one except this one private contractor.”

The generous Greenwood Village contract enriching one private individual comes during a national recession. The number of unemployed persons rose during February by 851,000, reaching 12.5 million unemployed people nation-wide. The groups regard the city’s wasteful spending as an insult to the millions of Americans being thrown out of work.

Other municipalities in the Denver metropolitan area are leading the way in developing more thoughtful coyote plans. Nearby Centennial has formed a regional stakeholders group to find community solutions to urban coyote conflicts with an emphasis on community education and successful coexistence. Greenwood Village, originally involved in the group, recently dropped out of the regional effort.

“Down the road Centennial is coordinating a stakeholders group to develop thoughtful, community-based solutions to coyote conflicts,” said Holly Tarry, Colorado director for The Humane Society of the United States, “but Greenwood Village refuses to participate and holds strong to their inefficient and extremely wasteful lethal control program.”

Facts

Greenwood Village has hired a private contractor to kill coyotes in several public parks and nature preserves. Invoices indicate that Stewart has billed the city more than $9,000 over the past four weeks.

The contract allows Stewart to kill any coyote, including pups, without evidence that the animal has displayed aggressive behavior toward people or pets.

The shooter has reportedly killed one coyote in Greenwood Village.

Greenwood Village has not obtained permission to trap coyotes. Trapping coyotes was restricted by the voters of Colorado through the passage of Amendment 14 in 1996.

Centennial convened a regional stakeholders group on January 7 and municipalities throughout the south Denver suburbs continue to develop coyote policies as part of that process.

For more information, including copies of the invoices and the shooter’s contract, contact nrosmarino@wildearthguardians.org or htarry@humanesociety.org.