Vancouver woman calls for urban coyote control after cat killed near busy South Granville

When Monalisa Paul adopted her ragdoll cat Bear two years ago, it was a match made in heaven.

“He would never scratch, never bite,” said Paul. “He would always want to sleep next to you – very cuddly.”

Bear was an indoor cat, who occasionally went into the backyard of Paul’s building at 13th and Granville in Vancouver. One night last week, Bear got out. While Paul was looking for him, a neighbour told her he’d seen a coyote carrying a cat its in mouth.

Later that day, she tracked the Airtag on Bear’s collar to some bushes at 14th and Pine.

“I picked it up from the ground, and Bear was hanging from the collar, just his head and his body. I couldn't find his tail,” said Paul. “I screamed and I just jumped out of that bush.”

Neighbours helped her retrieve what was left of Bear’s mangled body and she posted online about the coyote attack.

“I had 500 people respond to these postings and they were like, ‘Oh, I lost my cat to a coyote attack last year,’ and, ‘I lost my cat three months ago,’ or, ‘I lost my cat four months ago,’” said Paul.

Vancouver has had problems with aggressive coyotes in Stanley Park, resorting to a controversial cull in 2021. But Paul thinks more needs to be done to control the population in the city centre.

“We have seen them during the day in places like Granville, which is like so populated,” she said. Ideally Paul would like the city to trap and spay or neuter the urban coyotes.

“Or at least keep a track on how many puppies there are, how many adults there are, where they are located,” she said.

CTV News asked the city for data on coyote encounters and attacks on pets in densely populated areas like south Granville, but was provided emailed statement that simply said coyotes live all over the city year-round, have adapted to the urban environment, and prey on small animals.

Paul is worried people could also be harmed. “They are approaching humans in broad daylight. And what if it's a mom walking a dog with her child?” she said.

She is urging the city to alert residents if coyotes have killed pets in their neighborhood, because she never would have let Bear set foot outside if she knew the danger lurking nearby.