Some residents in Los Angeles’ westside neighborhood of Mar Vista are fed up with an out-of-control coyote population and say city and county officials are telling them that they need to learn to live with it.
Home surveillance cameras captured the pack of six wild canines scurrying along a back patio fence and even caught one of the coyotes stalking a man while he was walking his dog on the neighborhood street.
In another video, the pack can be heard howling extremely loudly.
“That was the start of this coyote apocalypse,” Mar Vista resident Jeanelle Arias told KTLA’s Carlos Saucedo.
Arias and a group of her neighbors have banded together to demand action following a scare with her beloved pets.
“My dogs were outside in the backyard going to the bathroom and all of a sudden a coyote approached my 14-year-old senior dog and tried to attack it,” she explained. “Luckily, my younger dog saw what was going on and he chased it off.”
Her elder dog, Bart, survived the encounter, but residents say it’s only a matter of time before a small pet or child gets hurt by the wild animals.
Some residents have spent money to raise their fences in an attempt to keep the coyotes out.
“We’ve reached out to animal services, and everyone seems to point at someone else that is responsible,” Shelley Beringhele, another Mar Vista resident, told KTLA.
Many residents in the area say that they feel helpless after reaching out to city, county and even state officials.
Last month, L.A. City Councilwoman Traci Park, who represents the area, held a webinar with the fish and wildlife department. The agency encourages residents to secure pets and always stay vigilant, but some residents in the neighborhood do not feel like that’s enough.
“We’ve been really frustrated,” a resident identified only as Fleishman said. “There’s really been no action, no proactive action.”