Nags Head’s Coyote Slaughter Prompts PETA Appeal

Officials Urged to Employ Humane Deterrent Methods Instead

For Immediate Release:
March 29, 2018

Contact:
Audrey Shircliff 202-483-7382

After learning that Nags Head officials reportedly hired a contractor this past winter to trap as many as 17 coyotes who were then killed—and that plans are apparently in the works to rehire a trapper next year—PETA sent a letter today urging officials to forgo future trapping initiatives and employ only humane deterrent methods.

“Trapping and killing coyotes isn’t just inhumane and indefensible—it’s also ineffective,” says PETA Senior Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch. “PETA is urging Nags Head officials to take a common-sense approach to living alongside wildlife, rather than trying to exterminate animals who are simply trying to survive.”

As PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—notes in its letter, coyotes suffer when caught in traps, which can also indiscriminately harm companion animals and “nontarget” wildlife, including protected species. Because coyote litter sizes increase when their populations are pressured, integrative and nonlethal approaches are the only effective means of coyote control. These methods include informing the public about deterring them through habitat modification and repellents as well as prohibiting residents from feeding wildlife, making sure to feed animal companions only indoors, and to supervise them when outside.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.