Dufferin’s Government Services Committee, now headed by Orangeville Deputy Mayor Warren Maycock, will make revisions to the proposed county coyote control bylaw before it is voted on by county council.

At that committee, Orangeville Mayor Rob Adams may support a control bylaw of some kind, but has indicated – perhaps tongue in cheek – that the county should control all nuisance wild animals in the towns as well as rurally.

“We control beavers. I’d like to see the county controlling the skunks in Orangeville,” he said in an interview.

At the committee level, there is expected to be discussion of how coyote control bylaws have worked in other counties, and what their success rate has been.

The purpose of the bylaw would not be to eradicate coyote populations, but to eliminate those that have proven to be a threat to sheep herds. In whatever form the eventual bylaw takes, hunters would be professionally qualified to distinguish between the good and the bad – and would be licensed by the Ministry of Natural Resources and hold other licenses.

Following a quest that began in 2008, County Council was on the threshold of enacting a bylaw to control nuisance coyotes but the bylaw, as drafted, was likely to face opposition from some local municipalities.

The use of professionally qualified and specifically licensed hunters to cull the minority of coyotes that have become nuisance ones is viewed by local municipalities and various agricultural associations as vital to an important sheep industry in which there are almost 6,000 ewes in Dufferin, with most of those in East Luther.

In 2008, about 100 ewes were killed by coyotes and wolves in East Luther alone. Provincewide, during the 2007-08 fiscal year, there were 3,161 claims for sheep lost to wolves and coyotes for a total of $1,038,618.

There are 159,000 ewes on Ontario farms – 5,600 of those in Dufferin, and most of those in the East Luther area. According to statistics presented to county council in 2008, $2-million is spent in Dufferin alone “as a direct result of sheep.” For every 1,000 ewes, according to the Dufferin federation of agriculture, 1.5 full time jobs are created.

There is little opposition rurally to culling nuisance coyotes, but there is some disagreement about what form the bylaw should take.

In effect, the Dufferin Municipal Officers Association, which comprises all CAOs and/or clerks of the municipalities, is saying that the proposed bylaw in its present form is too cumbersome as it involves too many levels of government and involves too many people.

As well, Melancthon Township concurs with the DOMA but has stated simply that its existing coyote hunters are proving effective. Also there, in a letter to the council, one resident has taken exception to what she perceives as permission to use “packs of dogs” in pursuit of a nuisance coyote.

(The draft bylaw’s reference to dogs was only made with respect to how the coyote was taken – whether by shooting or trapping and whether or not dogs were used.)

According to the DOMA analysis of the proposed bylaw, there would be eight steps in the process, involving the county, the local municipality, and the ministry of natural resources. Then the process would begin with reports from the stock owner and the livestock evacuator. The hunt would then be authorized by an MNR resource specialist. Local municipality would pay the hunter and mark the pelt, and collect its payment from the county which, in turn, would retain records and report annually to the MNR.

DOMA, along with some local councils, would simplify the process by eliminating the local municipality except to the extent that its livestock evacuator would be involved.

“The bylaw process should be simplified – perhaps by having the County pay the hunter directly and keeping the records, and eliminating the local municipality other than with respect to authorization of the municipal livestock claim evaluators participation.”

DOMA suggests the county verify MNR approval of the program prior to passing the bylaw.

The bylaw is expected to be reviewed extensively at county council tonight.