By Ross Dallas
A bill to allow more effective means of capturing and eliminating coyotes that threaten Massachusetts residents will soon make its way to a committee and receive a date for a public hearing.
The bill, re-filed this year, would amend a law that restricts leg hold traps. That law, however, provides exceptions for trapping beavers and muskrats which present an imminent threat to public safety. The bill would create a similar exception for coyotes.
Rep. William G. Greene, Jr., the bill’s sponsor, proposed the legislation in 2007. He said the restriction of leg hold traps hinders animal control officers’ ability to deal with rabid coyotes. When dangerous coyotes are reported, Greene said, officers spend too much time hunting the animal.
“In one incident they spent several days hunting an animal with rifles,” Greene said, “whereas if they were able to put out a trap, they would have been able to catch it in one night.”
But the bill faces opposition from organizations like the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, a non-profit animal protection group.
Linda Heubner, MSPCA deputy director of advocacy, said the legislation could cause cruel trapping of innocent animals. Leg hold traps, she said, are unnecessary.
“They’re indiscriminate,” she said. “They’re inhumane.”
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) are also opposed to the bill. Ryan Hauling, a PETA coordinator, said in an e-mail that any legislation allowing the killing or inhumane trapping of wild coyotes is cruel. He said the state should choose “compassionate” solutions to coyote problems over “cruel” ones.
But there is support for the bill in the scientific community. Laura Hajduk, a furbearer biologist for the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, does extensive research on coyotes in the Bay State. She said traps for dangerous coyotes aren’t needed often because there are so few rabid coyotes. In the 50 years since coyotes first appeared in the Massachusetts, there were three attacks on humans, two from rabid coyotes. Between 1992 and 2007, nearly 3,000 raccoons tested positive for rabies in Massachusetts, according to a MassWildlife study. In the same span, only 10 coyotes in the commonwealth tested positive for rabies.
“It’s an extremely, extremely rare event,” Hajduk said.
Greene said that while coyote attacks are uncommon, it’s still important to prevent them.
“It doesn’t happen often,” he said, “but when it does happen it’s best to be aware that there are solutions, rather than just allowing the animal to run around.”
Researchers could benefit from the proposed law, Hajduk said, because it would repeal bans on certain traps for legitimate scientific studies. The box traps now used are problematic because coyotes must become acclimated to the trap for several weeks before they walk in.
Cathleen Ellis, a wildlife enthusiast and blogger from Cape Cod, said she supports legislation that helps eliminate aggressive coyotes. She said her friend, who lives in Bournedale, lost his dog to a pack of coyotes.
Ellis said overpopulation is a nuisance to people and other animals. She supports traps which enable research that helps control the population.
“I don’t think it should be ignored any longer,” she said.
Greene said he’s received several “nasty phone calls” from people saying his proposed legislation is cruel.
“It’s discouraging,” he said. “Some people have more concern for wild animals than they do for little kids.”
Greene opposed the original legislation to ban leg hold traps, which passed through a ballot referendum in 1996. The box traps, he said, don’t provide a better solution for dealing with dangerous animals. He said the method used now involves the animal sitting in an enclosed box overnight until an officer comes in the next day.
“The trapper shows up and beats it to death with a stick,” he said. “I don’t think there’s a lot of logic here, it’s all gut feel.”