"Living with Coyotes and Wildlife" Presentation

From Animal Defenders of Westchester: In response to concerns of recent sightings of coyotes and other wildlife here, Animal Defenders of Westchester (ADOW) will present noted coyote advocate Frank Vincente, of the Wild Dog Foundation, to educate the public about living in peace with wildlife. The program will be held Thursday, Aug 31, 2017 at the Grinton Will Library, 1500 Central Ave Yonkers, from 7 - 9 PM.

Vincente's efforts to educate and enlighten the public about living peacefully with wildlife have been covered in the NY Times and several other outlets; his recent work at LaGuardia Airport saved remaining coyotes whose family had already been killed by the Dept of Environmental Conservation. Vincente worked tirelessly with the animals and coordinated relocation efforts to stop further DEC lethal activity. “These coyotes never were aggressive to anybody. They never approached anybody,” he said. “This was a debacle. This was horrific.”

Kiley Blackman, founder of ADOW, said, "Coyotes are a natural part of a healthy ecosystem. We are so used to, so habituated to truly serious dangers we create ourselves and face each and every day; seeing wildlife is out of the norm – and, sadly, we panic, feel we have the right to order their slaughter because they can’t defend themselves. But it ain’t Godzilla, folks, its animals who love their families just like we do, who are more afraid of us than we are of them. You are far more likely to be bitten by a dog, and overwhelmingly more likely to be injured or killed in your car. There are billions more of us than the animals; New York City, acknowledging wildlife’s presence, has created “WildlifeNYC,” an education and awareness campaign to teach New Yorkers about living compassionately among “urban fauna,” our natural neighbors.

"We would be wise to adapt something similar: Westchester used to be all forest – as the human population explodes everywhere, common decency, right and wrong, cannot be thrown out the window just because animals can’t say “No!” "

Image via the Animal Defenders of Westchester