Indiana Coyote Rescue Center -- News Report & DNR Response

	News Report and Indiana DNR's Response
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TheIndyChannel.com/ November 15, 2006
An Indianapolis animal trapper who was arrested for the manner in which he
killed two coyotes won't face criminal charges because the method is
approved by the state.

Marion County's prosecutor decided that the trapper didn't break any laws in
the killings, in which the trapper struck the coyotes in the head with a
shovel and then suffocated them by standing on them.

Animal c! are and control officers began investigating the trapper before
the coyotes were killed last week. Acting on an anonymous complaint about
the welfare of the animals, the officers went to the trapper's south-side
Indianapolis home, where the coyotes were caged.
The man had trapped the animals in a rural area before taking them to his
home.

The officers told the man that the animals needed to be in a bigger cage.
When they returned the next day, they found they coyotes had been killed and
skinned.

"We asked him how he killed them. He said he beat them with a shovel, and
then when that didn't kill them, he stood on top of them and their lungs
until they couldn't breathe anymore," Indianapolis animal control Lt. Jerry
Bippus said.

The officers arrested the man, alleging that the killings were cruel.

"I don't care if it's a dog, cat or wildlife animal -- the way he did this
to (the two coyotes) was very inhumane," Bippus said.

But the state Department of Natural Resources says a blow to the head,
otherwise known as stunning, is one way that permitees can kill a captive
wild nuisance animal.

According to DNR rules governing killing methods for such animals, proper
stunning is "a single sharp blow to the head ... delivered to the central
skull bone with sufficient force to immediately depress the central nervous
system and destroy brain tissue."

"The blow to the head must be followed immediately by a method that ensures
death," the rules state. "Personnel using this method must be properly
trained."

Other approved methods include electrocutions for unconscious animals, the
administration of carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide, and gunshots.

"There's no good way to kill an animal, but if we want leather and if we
want fur -- if we want to have leather belts and our shoes -- well,
unfortunately, the animals have to be killed in some type of humane way,"
said Sgt. Dean Shadley of the DNR.

The trapper does face two citations for allegedly violating city ordinances
by failing to post signs warning the public about dangerous animals on his
property.

Question asked to the DNR by concered citizen:

Above is the story about Mr. Combs. What type of permit allows for this??
* 4. Coyotes beaten with shovel, suffocated - no charges filed

Indiana DNR's Response:

Robert Combs did not break any DNR statute or administrative rule and was
not issued a citation by a DNR officer in this situation.   Individuals who
trap coyotes legally during the coyote season with a trapping license are
allowed to keep coyotes live until the end of the season without any kind of
permit. He had a trapping license. He trapped them live with leg-hold
traps, then kept them live for a couple of days before he killed them. Blunt
force trauma (also called stunning on our list of approved euthanasia
methods for NWCOs), is the method he used to kill the coyotes, and is also
legal, although trappers who trap during the season and trap the animal live
are not restricted to certain methods to kill the animals like nuisance wild
animal control operators are. They must trap the animals using legal traps
and with a trapping license, etc.

The statute for the game breeder license (IC 14-22-20-2) allows individuals
to obtain animals during the season for that animal, but within 5 days after
the season ends, they must have either killed or sold the animal or they
must apply for a license to keep the animal live.

Linnea

Linnea Petercheff
Operations Staff Specialist
Division of Fish and Wildlife
402 W. Washington Street, Rm. W273
Indianapolis, IN 46204-2781
TX: (317) 233-6527
FX: (317) 233-9593