Anaheim Pays Violent Felon Who Kills Coyotes in Gas Chambers Near Homes: PETA Demands End to Taxpayer-Funded Scheme
For Immediate Release:
February 5, 2025
Contact:
Sara Groves 202-483-7382
PETA sent letters today to city officials in Anaheim urging the city to end its cruel, wasteful, and ineffective coyote trapping program, for which it contracts with private trapper Jimmie Rizzo—a violent convicted felon who was sentenced to jail time whilehe was being paid to provide services to the city and has broken state trapping law on multiple occasions.
Following a tip from a concerned whistleblower, public records reviewed by PETA show no indication that officials conducted a background check on Rizzo: Just a few years before the city awarded him the contract, he was convicted of assault with a semiautomatic weapon and exhibiting a loaded firearm at a daycare center in Orange County. A few months after receiving the contract, Rizzo was sentenced to 90 days in jail for violating his formal probation—time he would have served while Anaheim was paying him with taxpayer dollars to provide trapping services. PETA pointed out to the city that Rizzo has apparently been given free range to trap and kill coyotes near residents’ homes using a gas chamber in the back of his truck—and although Rizzo has trapped and killed 67 coyotes in Anaheim so far—and has broken state trapping laws on multiple occasions—there’s no indication that officials monitor Rizzo’s activities or even know where he’s placing the traps.
“Paying a violent felon with no regard for the law to massacre Anaheim’s wildlife is both horrendously cruel and an appalling misuse of taxpayer funds,” says PETA Senior Vice President Lisa Lange. “PETA is calling on city leaders to end the senseless slaughter of animals who are simply trying to survive.”
PETA has sent similar letters to officials in Torrance and Racho Palos Verdes, which also contract with Rizzo. The three cities’ coyote-trapping programs previously prompted PETA to file a petition for rulemaking calling for statewide regulations that would ban gassing coyotes to death and prohibit cities from contracting with private trappers who trap and kill coyotes on public land.
Snare traps are wire loops that wrap around an animal’s neck and strangle them as they struggle. PETA notes that nearly 70% of snare traps don’t work as intended, as they can ensnare any animal—including dogs roaming off-leash. In addition to being cruel, snare traps and other lethal methods are ineffective, since coyotes may move in from outlying areas as long as food sources remain available.
PETA notes that in addition to being cruel and ineffective, the cities’ continued killing of coyotes comes at a time when California’s wildlife needs the most support. An untold number of the state’s cherished “song dogs” were undoubtedly injured, killed, or displaced as the blazes tore through their homes, and the destruction has severely threatened local ecosystems—with potentially long-term consequences.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kitsfor people who need a lesson in kindness. For more information, please visit PETA.org or follow PETA on X, Facebook, or Instagram.
