Coyotes shot in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park by U.S. Department of Agriculture [View All]

(07-16) 11:49 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- Two coyotes believed to have attacked a pair of leashed dogs in Golden Gate Park on Saturday were shot and killed Sunday night by officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The state's department of Fish and Game decided to destroy the animals after investigating the situation and determining there was a significant public safety risk, Deb Campbell of Animal Care and Control said today.

Kyle Orr, a spokesman for Fish and Game, said the animals -- a male and a female -- were shot around 10:30 p.m. within 100 feet of where the dogs had been attacked. Officials cannot be completely sure they were the same animals, he said, but the pair's proximity to the attack site led them to believe that they were the same coyotes.

The attack occurred about 9 a.m. Saturday, when a woman was walking her two large dogs along a path just south of Speedway Meadow near a large pile of mulch. Two coyotes bit one of the dogs, inflicting minor injuries, and lunged at the other, according to city animal control officials. On Sunday, a female dog-walker said two coyotes followed her in the same area, authorities said.

more: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/07/16/BAG0DR1BA66.DTL&tsp=1


Typical government response: shoot first and questions later. Sickening... The animals can't be drugged and relocated?