Coyotes are part of Southern California's ecosystem, and this petition is not calling for their eradication. We are calling for a safer, more humane and better-organized way to manage the growing conflict between coyotes, residents and pets in our communities.

I live in San Juan Capistrano, where I have repeatedly encountered coyotes while walking my dogs - including coyotes that showed very little fear of people and moved toward us rather than retreating.

Recently, I encountered a coyote lying on a neighbor's front lawn, visibly suffering from what appeared to be severe mange. It was the third separate coyote I have personally encountered showing signs of severe mange.

I called multiple animal-control and wildlife resources trying to get help. I also filed a sick-wildlife report with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

What I discovered was incredibly frustrating: there is no clear, coordinated system for residents dealing with these situations.

Residents throughout Orange County are also reporting close encounters, coyotes showing little fear of people, and beloved pets being attacked or killed.

Simply telling residents to "haze the coyote" cannot be the only response to every situation.

What We Are Asking For
We are asking San Juan Capistrano, surrounding South Orange County communities, Orange County, OC Animal Care, CDFW and appropriate state and federal partners to work together to create and adequately fund a regional, humane coyote and wildlife-management program that provides:

• One centralized reporting system for concerning encounters, pet attacks, and sick or injured coyotes.
• Tracking of coyote-conflict hotspots so repeated incidents are identified instead of treated as isolated events.
• A defined response to pet attacks and increasingly habituated coyotes, including formal documentation and investigation of attacks, escalating professional intervention for repeated incidents, and behavior-based criteria for lawful targeted removal when warranted.
• A clear professional response protocol for severely sick, injured or suffering coyotes.
• Defined escalation procedures for coyotes displaying dangerous behavior or a concerning loss of fear toward humans.
• Dedicated wildlife expertise and field response when professional intervention is warranted.
• Community education, humane hazing and prevention programs to reduce habituation and protect pets.
• Better coordination between cities, OC Animal Care, CDFW and other wildlife agencies.
• Adequate funding and regional cost-sharing so smaller South Orange County communities can access effective wildlife-management resources.

Other Orange County communities have established formal coyote-management programs and dedicated resources to wildlife conflict.

We are asking our elected officials to determine what it will take to provide South Orange County communities with an effective program, identify available city, county, state and federal funding, and create it.

This Is About Responsible Coexistence
We are not asking for indiscriminate trapping or killing of coyotes.

A healthy coyote moving through its habitat is not the same as a severely diseased animal suffering on someone's lawn.

A coyote that retreats from people is not the same as one repeatedly approaching residents and their pets without fear.

Those situations should not all receive the same response.

Coexistence does not mean doing nothing.

It means protecting residents and pets, preventing coyotes from becoming habituated to humans, and ensuring sick, injured or dangerous coyote receives an appropriate professional response.

Please Help Us Reach 1,000 Orange County Residents
If you live anywhere in Orange County and have experienced a concerning coyote encounter, lost or nearly lost a pet, encountered a severely sick or injured coyote, struggled to get help - or simply believe our communities need a better system - please sign and share this petition.

When signing, please share your city and your experience in the comments.

Our goal is to bring this petition and documented community experiences to local elected officials and Orange County leadership and ask them to:

Create and fund a coordinated South Orange County Humane Coyote & Wildlife Management Program.

One that protects our communities.

One that protects our pets.

And one that protects the coyotes living among us.