SEAL BEACH >> A group of area animal activists hopes to end a controversial Seal Beach program to trap and kill coyotes.

Volunteers with the grass-roots animal rights collective, Empty Cages Los Angeles, will hold an outreach event at the Seal Beach Pier from noon to 2 p.m. on Sunday. The volunteers will hand out leaflets and other educational materials.

“This is not going to be a protest,” said Shannen Maas, one of the event’s organizers and a co-founder of Empty Cages Los Angeles. “We’re trying to change residents’ perspectives on the issue and find a mutually beneficial solution for (humans and coyotes).”

Maas said that while she and other activists are firmly against killing coyotes, they understand the plight of pet owners and are stressing the need for community education.

“The last thing we want is for pets to be killed by coyotes,” she said. “A lot of attacks have happened due to negligence, leaving pets or food out.”

Seal Beach Mayor Ellery Deaton said she views the coyotes as a health and safety issue.

“The problem is not that we have coyotes,” Deaton said. “The problem is that they have become aggressive and overly habituated. With destruction of habitat, it has pushed (coyotes and their prey) closer to us. They’re coming into urban areas. We have to find a way to return the balance of nature.”

Although much attention has been paid to the city’s trapping program, Deaton said the program does not involve wholesale trapping.

“It’s strategic trapping,” she said. “We’re finding the areas where (a pet) was killed, and we’re setting them there.”

Deaton invited Seal Beach residents upset with the program to contact her: “I am sensitive to our residents’ needs,” she said. “I want to talk to them.”

The majority of the city’s approach will involve a stronger community education program on how to avoid attracting coyotes to one’s property and what to do if one sees a coyote, Deaton said. The city is also working with the Humane Society of the United States to come up with a public education campaign and to train police officers in so-called “coyote hazing” techniques, said Assistant City Manager Patrick Gallegos.

For Randi Feilich, a volunteer representative for Southern California with Project Coyote — a national nonprofit coalition of wildlife scientists, educators and others that promotes compassionate conservation and coexistence between people and wildlife — coyote trapping programs such as the one being conducted in Seal Beach are unacceptable.

“Most people don’t understand that coyotes have an effect on the ecosystem,” Feilich said. “As predators they reduce the rodent population. We need to educate people about (coyotes’) positive effects.”

For more information, Feilich encouraged people to contact Project Coyote at www.projectcoyote.org or call 415-945-3232.

Contact Greg Yee at 562-499-1476.