To: Leadership Officials, Public and Private, in Decatur and the Greater Atlanta Metropolitan Area

STOP COYOTE TRAPPING in ATLANTA

WE NEED YOUR HELP TO STOP TRAPPING COYOTES IN OUR URBAN NEIGHBORHOODS.

Let's help Atlanta find a more ecologically responsible, effective way to deal with coyotes in the neighborhoods, by promoting coexistence through education.

Coexistence management plans work, as attested to by cities such as San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Vancouver, Denver and many others throughout the country. We ask officials in leadership positions to become proactive in stopping the trapping and in reaching out to the public with educational materials to promote a plan for coexistence.

*The current method of trap and kill does not work because vacated niches are soon filled by newcomer coyotes. The trapping and killing is never ending. Published research shows that indiscriminate killing of coyotes throws off their natural social structure which keeps their own numbers in check. Trapping and killing is simply not effective.

*Trap and Kill is terrifyingly cruel to the animals and causes a huge amount of suffering and pain to individual coyotes and entire family structures.

*Simple guidelines and education work in other cities, they can work here. These include never feeding a coyote, not leaving food out, securing garbage cans, protecting small pets by keeping them indoors when they cannot be supervised out of doors, keeping dogs leashed in coyote areas, learning how to appropriately shoo a coyote away if it gets too close.

*Coyotes play a vital and natural role in the ecosystem, eating mostly rodents that can carry plague and hantavirus. Learn about their amazing close knit families, intelligence and survival skills even as humans have tried to wipe them out.

We, the undersigned, want the indiscriminate trapping and killing of coyotes in our neighborhoods stopped, and we want our leadership officials to become proactive in support of coexistence. We support a coexistence plan which involves management through community education programs, presentations and workshops, information websites and other communication forms such as flyers on doorknobs and information in water bills.

Why is this important?

Atlanta Neighbors:

Please make your voice heard by signing the “Stop Coyote Trapping” petition. We will share your voice with leadership officials in the Greater Atlanta area. In addition, we would appreciate your contacting your city and county officials, using any of the talking points in the petition, telling them you oppose trapping, and support a proactive educational approach to coyote coexistence.

Please visit the COYOTE COEXISTENCE website at www.coyotecoexistence.com for information and updates. If you are willing to help out more, please write us at [email protected]

Thanks for your support!