Name: Tracey Dunn
Comment - 09/14/2026 12:57 AM: ( Against )
Dear Mayor and Council-members,
As a lifelong resident of Torrance, I disagree with the City’s indiscriminate killing of coyotes.
How does trapping one random coyote guarantee that a coyote that has preyed on a pet has been taken out of the population? How many coyotes that did NOT prey on pets were killed by the City? How many coyotes that preyed on wildlife and taught their offspring this same behavior were taken out of the genetic population? If one coyote has developed the habit of seeking food around our homes, and the trapper sets a trap up in an open space where coyotes natural prey occur, how likely is the problem coyote going to be trapped? Probably very unlikely. The coyote that preys on wildlife in open spaces is most likely going to be trapped and euthanized by the trapper.
I feel the City’s decision to hire an exterminator who traps and kills coyotes is unethical and only caters to a hate that has been fueled by ignorance and environmental disassociation.
I think most residents agree with this. The money to kill coyotes is wasted and will be a long (very long) term expense. This money should go to educating people on how to avoid coyote encounters and protecting their pets. Most likely, the cost for education would go down over time, as better habits are instilled in both the human and coyote populations.
Another issue with Torrance is the development of every inch of open space in the City. I did not see coyotes in Torrance until about 10 years ago. This seemed to coincide with the development of some of the last empty parcels in the City. It is obvious coyotes were always in the area but with all the development over the last decade they are being forced out onto our streets. This also means their natural prey have met the same fate or have disappeared entirely. Torrance needs to think about a solution that shows compassion to an animal that has existed in this area long before the City was established, how do we provide safe havens for them to be coyotes and stay out of trouble? Please end the senseless extermination of coyotes in our City. It is time for Torrance to invest in educating its residents about the coyote and to look at what open spaces we have left and preserving them, or perhaps creating new ones.
Thank you.
Name: Camilla Fox
1 AGENDA ITEM 10A
PUBLIC COMMENT REPORT
Comment - 09/15/2026 03:29 PM: ( No Vote )
City of Torrance, City Hall 3031 Torrance Blvd. Torrance, CA 90503 Att’n: Sharon Kalani, Mayor
Councilmember David Kartsonis
Councilmember Bridgett Lewis
Councilmember Asam Sheikh
Councilmember Linda Barnett
Councilmember Betty Lieu
Councilmember Dr. Jeremy Gerson
Sent via email: [email protected]
[email protected]
Subject: Agenda Item 10A – Coyote Management Program and Abatement Services
Dear Mayor Kalani and Councilmembers:
On behalf of Project Coyote, I am writing regarding Agenda Item 10A and the future of Torrance’s Coyote Management Program.
We support staff’s recommendation that the Council consider qualified vendors capable of providing a broader and more targeted wildlife-conflict response—one that emphasizes incident investigation, prevention, proactive public education, monitoring, and behavioral intervention.
Communities like Marin County, where Project Coyote is based, relies on our organization, Marin WildCare, and Marin Humane to provide ongoing proactive public education, coyote hazing workshops, and targeted public outreach in hotspot communities when needed. In addition, Rebecca Dmytryk, CEO of Humane Wildlife Control, was hired by Belvedere in March 2023 to assess rising coyote activity and guide the community on human-wildlife interactions. Torrance could and should do the same. Collectively, our organizations have provided consistent and proactive public education for the residents of Marin County for more than a decade, ensuring that coyote conflicts are kept to a minimum. In the rare situation where a coyote poses a public safety hazard, the California Department of Fish 2 and Wildlife will step in to provide targeted removal. Every California county can rely on CDFW for targeted removal of a predator (coyote, mountain lion, bobcat, etc.) that poses a demonstrable public safety threat- including Torrance. Torrance does not need to waste tax payer dollars to perpetually pay for coyote removal that is not only ultimately ineffective, but increasingly difficult to justify ethically, ecologically, and fiscally.
The City’s own data do not demonstrate that routine year-round trapping has produced a meaningful reduction in coyotes. According to the City’s figures, the number of coyotes trapped during the last four fiscal years has been:
FY 2022–23: 26 coyotes trapped/killed
FY 2023–24: 28 coyotes trapped/killed
FY 2024–25: 28 coyotes trapped/killed
FY 2025–26: 23 coyotes trapped/killed
While it may appear, there's a downward trend over four consecutive years, we must consider that the contractor’s trapping footprint has narrowed considerably. In 2024 and 2025, the trapper was investigated in connection with compliance with California’s 150- yard trapping restriction. Since that time, records reviewed to date indicate that trapping has been limited to only two locations—Madrona Marsh and Zamperini Airport—rather than the five locations previously used, which included:
Bishop Montgomery Basin
Entradero Park Basin
Ocean Avenue Basin
Vine Avenue Basin
Madrona Marsh Basin
In other words, the trapping footprint appears to have been reduced substantially, while the number of coyotes being captured has declined only modestly—from 28 to 23 in the City’s most recent fiscal-year comparison.
That should give the Council serious pause before interpreting the lower capture number as evidence that routine trapping has meaningfully reduced the coyote population. 3 More importantly, the number of coyotes killed should not be the measure of whether the program is successful. The appropriate measure should be whether serious human-coyote conflicts are actually decreasing.
The City’s FY 2025–26 data present a mixed picture. Sightings declined from 436 in FY 2024–25 to 387, while reported dog attacks increased from 12 to 15. Cat fatalities declined from 54 to 38, and dog fatalities declined from 3 to 2.
However, these figures do not establish a clear causal relationship between routine trapping and reduced conflict. The number of coyotes captured has remained relatively consistent over the same period, suggesting that the underlying coyote presence has not changed dramatically. In that context, changes in sightings or pet-related incidents cannot reasonably be attributed to routine trapping alone.
Project Coyote provided our Model Coyote Coexistence Plan to Torrance and we are pleased to see elements of that plan incorporated into the City’s own Coyote Management Plan – which already provides the framework for a stronger and more effective approach.
The Plan states:
“It is not economically, ecologically or in other ways efficient to try and eradicate all coyotes from the urban ecosystem. ”
We agree.
We also strongly support the Plan’s stated goal of minimizing human-coyote conflict while prioritizing public safety and fostering coexistence.
The City should also be commended for the educational outreach, reporting, monitoring, and public-information components it has already put in place. From our experience 4 working with multiple municipalities across the country, those efforts are likely to be the principal drivers of any lasting reduction in human-coyote conflict.
Rather than renewing a broad, year-round trapping contract, we encourage the City to bolster and expand its existing Coyote Management Program by directing greater resources toward public education, field response, incident investigation, attractant reduction, community outreach, behavioral intervention, and targeted monitoring.
That would build on what Torrance is already doing well while creating a more comprehensive conflict-prevention program.
In addition, City staff states that, following Council direction, the City will formalize a contract with the most qualified prospective vendor.
We encourage the Council to support that direction, but to go further by directing staff to develop a contract model centered on non-lethal conflict reduction, coexistence, public safety, and targeted intervention, rather than simply reducing the number of trapping days while preserving the same underlying approach.
Torrance already has the foundation for a better program. The City has a management plan, a reporting structure, GIS capability, public education efforts, and a tiered response framework. The next step should be to strengthen those elements and ensure that future vendors are selected to support them.
Thank you for your consideration.
Camilla Fox
Founder & Executive Director
5 1
September 15, 2026
City of Torrance, City Hall 3031
Torrance Blvd. Torrance, CA 90503
Att’n: Sharon Kalani, Mayor
Councilmember David Kartsonis
Councilmember Bridgett Lewis
Councilmember Asam Sheikh
Councilmember Linda Barnett
Councilmember Betty Lieu
Councilmember Dr. Jeremy Gerson
Sent via email: [email protected]
[email protected]
Subject: Agenda Item 10A – Coyote Management Program and Abatement Services
Dear Mayor Kalani and Councilmembers:
On behalf of Project Coyote, I am writing regarding Agenda Item 10A and the future of Torrance’s Coyote Management Program.
We support staff’s recommendation that the Council consider qualified vendors capable of providing a broader and more targeted wildlife-conflict response—one that emphasizes incident investigation, prevention, proactive public education, monitoring, and behavioral intervention.
Communities like Marin County, where Project Coyote is based, relies on our organization, Marin WildCare, and Marin Humane to provide ongoing proactive public education, coyote hazing workshops, and targeted public outreach in hotspot communities when needed. In addition, Rebecca Dmytryk, CEO of Humane Wildlife Control, was hired by Belvedere in March 2023 to assess rising coyote activity and guide the community on human-wildlife interactions. Torrance could and should do the same. Collectively, our organizations have provided consistent and proactive public education for the residents of Marin County for more than a decade, ensuring that coyote conflicts are kept to a minimum. In the rare situation where a coyote poses a public safety hazard, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife will step in to provide targeted removal. Every California county can rely on CDFW for targeted removal of a predator (coyote, mountain lion, bobcat, etc.) that poses a demonstrable public safety threat- including Torrance. Torrance does not need to waste tax payer dollars to perpetually pay for coyote removal that is not only ultimately ineffective, but increasingly difficult to justify ethically, ecologically, and fiscally. 6 2
The City’s own data do not demonstrate that routine year-round trapping has produced a meaningful reduction in coyotes. According to the City’s figures, the number of coyotes trapped during the last four fiscal years has been:
• FY 2022–23: 26 coyotes trapped/killed
• FY 2023–24: 28 coyotes trapped/killed
• FY 2024–25: 28 coyotes trapped/killed
• FY 2025–26: 23 coyotes trapped/killed
While it may appear, there's a downward trend over four consecutive years, we must consider that the contractor’s trapping footprint has narrowed considerably. In 2024 and 2025, the trapper was investigated in connection with compliance with California’s 150-yard trapping restriction. Since that time, records reviewed to date indicate that trapping has been limited to only two locations—Madrona Marsh and Zamperini Airport—rather than the five locations previously used, which included:
• Bishop Montgomery Basin
• Entradero Park Basin
• Ocean Avenue Basin
• Vine Avenue Basin
• Madrona Marsh Basin
In other words, the trapping footprint appears to have been reduced substantially, while the number of coyotes being captured has declined only modestly—from 28 to 23 in the City’s most recent fiscal-year comparison.
That should give the Council serious pause before interpreting the lower capture number as evidence that routine trapping has meaningfully reduced the coyote population.
More importantly, the number of coyotes killed should not be the measure of whether the program is successful. The appropriate measure should be whether serious human-coyote conflicts are actually decreasing.
The City’s FY 2025–26 data present a mixed picture. Sightings declined from 436 in FY 2024–25 to 387, while reported dog attacks increased from 12 to 15. Cat fatalities declined from 54 to 38, and dog fatalities declined from 3 to 2.
However, these figures do not establish a clear causal relationship between routine trapping and reduced conflict. The number of coyotes captured has remained relatively consistent over the same period, suggesting that the underlying coyote presence has not changed dramatically. In that context, changes in sightings or pet-related incidents cannot reasonably be attributed to routine trapping alone.
Project Coyote provided our Model Coyote Coexistence Plan to Torrance and we are pleased to see elements of that plan incorporated into the City’s own Coyote Management Plan – which already provides the framework for a stronger and more effective approach. The Plan states:
“It is not economically, ecologically or in other ways efficient to try and eradicate all coyotes from the urban ecosystem.”
We agree.
7 3
We also strongly support the Plan’s stated goal of minimizing human-coyote conflict while prioritizing public safety and fostering coexistence.
The City should also be commended for the educational outreach, reporting, monitoring, and public- information components it has already put in place. From our experience working with multiple municipalities across the country, those efforts are likely to be the principal drivers of any lasting reduction in human-coyote conflict.
Rather than renewing a broad, year-round trapping contract, we encourage the City to bolster and expand its existing Coyote Management Program by directing greater resources toward public education, field response, incident investigation, attractant reduction, community outreach, behavioral intervention, and targeted monitoring.
That would build on what Torrance is already doing well while creating a more comprehensive conflict- prevention program.
In addition, City staff states that, following Council direction, the City will formalize a contract with the most qualified prospective vendor.
We encourage the Council to support that direction, but to go further by directing staff to develop a contract model centered on non-lethal conflict reduction, coexistence, public safety, and targeted intervention, rather than simply reducing the number of trapping days while preserving the same underlying approach.
Torrance already has the foundation for a better program. The City has a management plan, a reporting structure, GIS capability, public education efforts, and a tiered response framework. The next step should be to strengthen those elements and ensure that future vendors are selected to support them.
Thank you for your consideration.
Camilla Fox
Founder & Executive Director
Project Coyote
8