City Council dispatches idea for permits to kill coyotes

The Colorado Springs City Council on Monday put a bullet between the eyes of a proposal that would have allowed residents to obtain permits to gun down coyotes.

The nine-member council didn't vote on the proposed ordinance, but a majority said the city is tight on resources and has more pressing matters to attend to.

"We're looking at a new program in the Police Department when we can't even fund the programs we have," Vice Mayor Larry Small said. "I'm really not interested in pursuing this further."

Even the person who initiated the idea, former Councilwoman Margaret Radford, backed away from it before the council debated the issue.

Radford said the proposed ordinance was "far too broad" and should have been revised so only aggressive animals would be killed and only as a last resort.

"I had no expectation or desire for every Tom, Dick or Harry to be able to go get a permit and do this," she said.

Councilman Tom Gallagher said he wanted police to continue to refine the proposal.

"I don't want it to be on the front burner. I just don't want it to die," he said. "There's going to come a point in time when it's not going to be a pet, OK? It's going to be a kid. It's inevitable."

City officials received 10 times more calls about the proposed coyote control ordinance than the now-defunct $53 million deal to keep the U.S. Olympic Committee in the city, Councilman Jerry Heimlicher said. Most of the callers expressed opposition.

"The only thing that superseded this number has been the potbellied pig," he said, referring to a 2006 vote on legalizing potbellied pigs in the city. "I think this is much ado about nothing."

Under the proposal, people would have been allowed to shoot and kill coyotes within city limits if they obtained a permit and obeyed certain rules, such as using only a .22-caliber firearm and completing a hunter safety course.

The proposal also prohibited the shooting of coyotes after 4 a.m. and before sunset.

"It would seem to me very difficult to try to identify a coyote that did something in your neighborhood that night. I mean, don't they all kind of look alike?" said Mayor Lionel Rivera, drawing laughter in the audience.

Shaun Deeney, area wildlife manager for the state Department of Wildlife, said the number of calls to his office about aggressive coyotes has changed much.

"As far as human bites, I'm not aware of any in the last several years," he said. "But pet attacks are very regular."

People can take different steps to try to prevent encounters with coyotes, he said. They include locking up garbage cans and keeping their pets indoors unless they're under supervision.

"We support the city in being proactive," he told council members. "I don't think you want to get to a point where you start to having people get bit or things like that, and that's the education component."

Deeney also said there's a "very broad" state law that allows people to use firearms to protect "any real or personal property," including pets.

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