Cities Wage War on Suffering Wildlife After LA Fires; PETA Demands End to Coyote Trapping

For Immediate Release:
February 5, 2025

Contact:
Sara Groves 202-483-7382

As Southern California’s wildlife struggles to survive amid the devastation from the recent fires, PETA sent letters today to city officials in Torrance, Rancho Palos Verdes, and Anaheim, urging them to end their cruel and ineffective coyote trapping programs, for which they contract with private trapper Jimmie Rizzo—a violent convicted felon who brazenly violated state trapping laws for years.

Following a tip from a concerned whistleblower, PETA reviewed public records and found no indication that any of the three cities inquired into Rizzo’s criminal history before awarding him the contracts. Instead, the cities have apparently allowed Rizzo—who was convicted of assault with a semiautomatic weapon and exhibiting a loaded firearm at a daycare center in Orange County only a few years before being contracted—free range to trap and kill coyotes near residents’ homes using a gas chamber in the back of his truck, with little to no oversight.

Rizzo repeatedly self-reported setting snare traps near dozens of homes in violation of state law, which prohibits anyone from placing a trap within 150 yards of a residence without the landowner’s written consent. Officials in Torrance appear to have even instructed Rizzo to place the traps in close proximity to residents’ homes without consent—making the city potentially criminally liable for violations of state trapping law.

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.

“Paying a violent felon with no regard for the law to massacre California’s wildlife after these animals have just watched their world go up in flames 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.”

The 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—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.