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About 200 coots scheduled for execution by the governing board of a Rancho Santa Margarita community have been spared, officials from Orange County People for Animals said Wednesday.
The board had received a federal permit to eliminate the troublesome Canadian waterfowl but postponed their plans at the request of animal rights activists. Now, instead of poisoning the birds, Merit Property Management officials will look into using specially trained dogs to scare the coots away.
The birds have been creating problems at the community lake, polluting the water with their droppings and tearing up the landscaping.
Ava Park, founder of OCPA, said the problem isn’t the birds, it’s the people feeding the birds. “People love the birds so they feed the birds, and then there are too many birds and then the homeowners association has to kill the birds,” Park said. “It’s an unfortunate, ironic twist.”
Merit officials will work to educate residents about the problems associated with feeding wild animals and will present their research on using dogs to the board next month.
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