Applause for Chappaqua Coyote Policy from US Humane Society

The Humane Society of the United States congratulated the Town of New Castle for passing a humane coyote management policy for solving conflicts among people, pets and coyotes.

“We are so pleased that the Town of New Castle has adopted a humane plan for preventing and managing coyote conflicts and can now serve as a role model for communities across the nation,” said Lynsey White Dasher, director of humane wildlife conflict resolution for The Humane Society of the United States in a prepared statement. “An approach that uses education and coyote hazing techniques addresses the root cause of coyote conflicts and is much more effective than expensive, inhumane and futile trapping and killing programs.”

The HSUS provided training in techniques—including educating residents, managing trash and other items that attract coyotes, collecting coyote sighting data and using proven nonlethal techniques of aversive conditioning (or hazing) to deter coyotes who have become too bold—to New Castle police officers and residents in 2013 and worked with the committees involved to draft the new policy, she said.