Coyote traps removed early

GREENWOOD VILLAGE – The City of Greenwood Village has removed all of its leg hold traps that were set along the Highline Canal to catch coyotes.

City Manager, Jim Sanderson, told 9NEWS they removed all the traps on Wednesday.

Greenwood Village got a special permit from the Tri-County Health Department in April after several citizens complained about aggressive coyotes. This permit allowed the leg hold trapping of coyotes until June 10.

The traps, which are illegal in Colorado, were issued to rid the area of aggressive coyotes, not to control the number of coyotes in Greenwood Village, Sanderson said.

An attorney for Rocky Mountain Animal Defense, Karen Breslan, met with Tri-County Health Tuesday to review the special permit.

Breslan says the permit did not contain a specified number of animals that could be taken. She noted that four animals had already been trapped and killed. A Tri-County employee who processed the complaint said he thought four was an appropriate number since that was the number of animals implicated in the "aggressive" coyote incidents.

Tri-County then contacted the trapper and told him he could not take any more animals and to remove the traps.

Many people who live in the area were angry when the traps were set. They were concerned people walking their dogs or playing children, would get caught in them.