Trapper Kills 3 Coyotes in Los Alamitos After Dog Is Fatally Attacked

Officials in Los Alamitos wrapped up two weeks of coyote trapping Friday, having nabbed three coyotes.

Set along the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Base behind Los Alamitos backyards, the latest round of trapping was triggered by the coyote killing of a pet Pomeranian.

“It happened on Rochelle Street in the Suburbia tract. They let their little Pomeranian out to go to the bathroom, and within a minute they heard it yelp. It instantly killed the dog and jumped back over the fence with it while its owner, a 14-year-old girl, had to see it from the back window. It’s the second time a coyote came into their backyard,” said Rebecca Lara, founder of the Rossmoor Predator Management Team, a resident group aimed at protecting pets and residents from coyotes. The group has recently branched out to work with residents and officials in Los Alamitos. “We can’t ignore them anymore. We’re just too close to Los Alamitos.”

According to Lara, several coyotes have been spotted in groups at the U.S. Navy Golf Course and just on the other side of the fence at Seal Beach’s Arbor Dog Park.

So Lara reached out to the joint forces base commander and Los Alamitos City Manager Jeff Stewart.

“We are very grateful to the joint forces base and Los Alamitos for acting so quickly,” Lara said. “It’s been amazing.”

The base gave the city permission to set baited snare traps on its property, and that is where all three coyotes were caught and killed, said Stewart. It is the second year in a row the city has hired a trapper. Last year, five animals were caught and killed in Los Alamitos.

“I have no way of knowing how effective this is in curbing the coyote population,” said Stewart. “But I can say that, after the trapping, the complaints go down.”