Rogue coyote traps being set in Riverside Park South
Residents in the Riverside Park South neighbourhood are worried about unauthorized coyote traps being set. The City of Ottawa removed its traps earlier this month and it appears someone is setting up their own.
Hunt Club East resident Michelle Briere walks her dog in McCarthy Woods almost every day. She says she’s worried the traps might hurt her dog.
“I think it's pretty irresponsible to have these traps out in the forest, especially if they're not announced,” says Briere. “I would say probably 90 per cent of the people who come into this forest walk their dogs off leash and there's always young children running around as well. So I'm quite concerned that someone's dog or child is going to end up getting hurt.”
The City of Ottawa temporarily set traps in this area to catch coyotes and three coyotes were euthanized. However, the city traps were removed Nov. 4.
“Since then, someone has gone into the same area and set up neck snares,” says city councillor for the area Riley Brockington, “which are not authorized, which are not from the City of Ottawa, are not from the NCC.”
Brockington says the city believes someone is trying to take matters into their own hands.
Lesley Sampson of Coyote Watch Canada says she was told the rogue neck snares were actually authorized to be there. But neither the city, nor the NCC say they have deployed these traps.
Sampson wanted to help the coyote stuck in the snare, but says she couldn’t.
“To interfere with that snare, we would have been breaking the law,” says Sampson. “I spoke with not only the provincial government and the federal government—so the Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources conservation officer and a Conservation Officer from the NCC. I was told explicitly that that snare was a legally set snare.”
In a statement Ottawa Bylaw director Roger Chapman confirmed in a statement to CTV News that Bylaw and its partners are currently not engaged in any trapping operations in the area.
An email from Ottawa Bylaw that Brockington showed to CTV News, dated Dec. 2, says the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry has been in touch for the purposes of investigating unauthorized traps, which had been encountered and removed. It also said Ottawa Bylaw would not use nor condone the use of neck snares.
Some residents, even those with pets, feel the coyotes should be left alone and say they haven’t been notified about any traps.
“For me, it's to learn to live with nature,” says Riverview Park resident Andrea Petersen. “We don't know who set them so we're making the assumption that it's people doing it on their own. And especially when they say there's a coyote with one on its left paw, like, where did that trap come from?”
Michelle Briere justs want to be able to enjoy nature with her dog Otis and without the risk of injury.
“Personally, I feel like trapping and euthanizing these coyotes is not an effective long-term solution,” says Briere, “nor is it the responsible or ethical thing to do.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.