Post on Facebook derails Dearborn's quiet plans for exterminator to trap, kill coyotes
The Dearborn Police Department was all set for an eight-day hunt to trap and "dispatch" coyotes from the city's residential neighborhoods. It had lined up an out-of-town exterminator and obtained proof of insurance and the chief had a signed "competition exemption form" that allowed for a sole-source contract.
But after a Facebook post outed the trapping plans, city officials quickly decided there was no contract, that they were simply doing their due diligence, and would get input from residents and the City Council before making a decision.
"It's clear they were doing this under the radar," said Craig Gorkiewicz, whose Rat Patrol Facebook page announced the city's plans to trap coyotes. "The whole process was hidden from the public."
The original plan: bring the exterminators from Berg's Animal & Bug Control in Rose City, north of West Branch, put them up in a hotel for eight nights, pay for their meals, mileage and wages, and the actual trapping costs. The price tag: $6,520 cash or check, $6,846 for a credit or debit card charge.
The coyote hunt was supposed to start on April 4.
Officials with Berg's Animal & Bug did not immediately return a call for comment.
But in a March 30 post on Facebook, the Dearborn Rat Patrol said it had confirmed "the city is planning on trapping coyotes in the near future. Not sure if they are being relocated or killed. This is extremely upsetting as there have not been any confirmed attacks on humans."
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According to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, "dispatching" means killing the coyotes. They can't be relocated, mostly to prevent disease.
Two days later, Mayor Abdullah Hammoud was posting on his own Facebook page about coyotes, saying the administration was planning to meet with the City Council on April 4 — the same day as the planned start of the hunt — to discuss coyotes.
In his Facebook post, under Topic of the Week, the mayor said, "We plan on having a conversation with council and residents to what route they would like the administration to explore."
He also said the administration had received an increasing number of calls from residents about coyotes in their neighborhood.
"Specifically, some residents have said their house pets were attacked by coyotes, there have been sightings of coyotes eating feral cats (could have been pets?), and others have expressed anxiety with coyotes roaming their backyards/streets/local park given they have small children and pets," the mayor wrote.
He acknowledged the Police Department has had conversations with potential vendors, but there was "no contract." A spokeswoman told the Free Press on Friday that city officials were doing their due diligence so that they could answer questions from the council, which would have to vote on any coyote cull.
Documents obtained by the Free Press confirm a corporal in the Police Department did indeed look for various vendors, according to a February email listing those he had contacted. In response, Lt. Serio Popescu told the officer to "make this a priority ... I would like to present the Chief with options."
Later that same month, the city had a bid from Berg's Animal & Bug Control, according to the documents obtained by the Free Press under an open records request. At some point, the city's purchasing manager weighed in, saying a "competition exemption form" would be needed.
Once he had all the necessary documentation, the purchasing manager, Mark Rozinsky, said, "We will take it from there!"
According to the competition exemption form signed on March 26 by Police Chief Issa Shahin, the plan was to trap and "dispatch," coyotes near Cherry Hill and Brady. The firm said Berg's was the only vendor "actively working" to reduce the coyote population.
Zach Cooley, a wildlife biologist with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources for Wayne, Monroe and Lenawee counties, said that while there have been no coyote attacks on humans in the state, they have been spotted near a bus stop in downtown Detroit, have followed — or stalked — pedestrians, and attacked small animals.
A merino wool sheep was killed recently at Greenfield Village and officials of the Dearborn venue blamed coyotes.
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Cooley said the majority of urban areas across the state are "dealing with urban wildlife, specifically coyotes."
Bee Friedlander — a lawyer with Attorneys for Animals, an advocacy organization in Canton — said Dearborn officials were "full steam ahead" with the trapping plans until community members heard about it, forcing the administration into damage control.
"The issue of urban and suburban wildlife is becoming more and more important and there has to be a way to deal with these issues that is transparent and better than what we're seeing here."
Contact Jennifer Dixon: jbdixon@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Dearborn shelves coyote cull after public finds out about the plans
