Help New Castle Stop Coyote Slaughter
Action Alerts From Animal Defenders of Westchester (ADOW)

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Help New Castle Stop Coyote Slaughter

From: Animal Defenders of Westchester (ADOW)
February 7, 2015

The town of New Castle is holding a meeting on February 10 to discuss the 'problem' of coyotes there (mtg location below).

Please send polite comments in support of humane treatment for coyotes and all wildlife ASAP to the following New Castle officials; slaughter is not an option:

Robert Greenstein, Supervisior
[email protected]

Liza Katz, Deputy Town Supervisor
[email protected] 

Adam Brodsky, Councilman
[email protected] 

Elise Mottel, Councilwoman
[email protected]

Jason Chapin, Councilman
[email protected]

POINTS TO COVER: The main point of contention among some residents is family pets and coyotes; however the instances of coyote/pet conflict involve human negligence. People should never leave their pets unattended in yards, etc: The fact is many dangers can befall pets left alone outside - including cars, other predatory wildlife including owls which will eat cats and small dogs...and the worst predator, people. There are people, called 'Bunchers,' who steal companion animals and sell them to labs; people steal animals and sell them on Craigslist, etc. Someone in Yonkers had his dog stolen right out of his yard by HS teenagers - who contacted him for a ransom. We think it is especially unreasonable for people to move to rural areas and then demand the wildlife in the area be killed.

Coyotes also provide an important function in the ecosystem: By exerting a top-down regulation of other species, coyotes maintain the balance in the food web below and around them. When coyotes are absent or even just greatly reduced in a natural area, the relationships between species below them in the web are altered, putting many small species at risk see PDF.

Whenever wildlife populations are higher than nature meant for them to be, disease becomes a serious issue. So carnivores, like coyote, keep wildlife numbers in balance and help prevent such diseases as wasting disease in deer and rabies in raccoons and foxes.

But we humans can also be affected in a positive way by coyote’s presence. For example, the bacterium for Lyme disease is carried by wild rodents that infect the ticks that often feed on our deer population. By keeping the deer population in balance, the tick population does not explode. That will limit the number of ticks that can be infected with the Lyme disease bacterium when they bite a wild rodent. In addition, wild rodents are one of coyote’s primary foods, thus keeping their population in check see PDF.

MEETING:
If anyone is in the New Castle area, please try if at all possible to attend the meeting; the DEC is involved and they are known for erring on the side of slaughter and killing their way out of a supposed problem; urge hazing and all non-lethal methods instead:

DATE:
Tuesday, February 10, 2015

TIME:
7:30 PM

PLACE:
Assembly room, New Castle Town Hall, 200 South Greeley Avenue in Chappaqua.

THANK YOU FOR HELPING - THE ANIMALS NEED YOU TO SPEAK FOR THEM!

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