Editor,
While the loss of a beloved pet, whether to a car or coyote, is always a tragedy, Fischer’s story does stretch credulity. On a night when the temperatures dipped below 60, the back door to the bedroom where his infant grandchild slept alone was left wide open. Really? Please tell me that there weren’t food wrappers or dog food left out, too, to really make it an open invitation to wild life.
We are blessed in Laguna to live in a nature area, surrounded by a green and a blue belt. It is a community shared with things that bite, such as coyotes, raccoons, snakes and sharks; and sting, bees, stingrays and jellyfish. These creatures’ teeth and stingers are their defense against other predators, such as us.
The Mammoth and Sierra Madre communities have coyotes, bears, mountain lions, etc., and they manage to live at peace with their wild neighbors. How? They keep locked lids on their trash cans, doors shut, and food for their pets inside.
Laguna residents should be encouraged to follow the same practices. We don’t want to live in an antiseptic, critter-free environment; there are plenty of other cities like that. People who prefer that type of lifestyle are free to move to one of them.
Deborah Laughton, Laguna Beach
