A man who allegedly set a trap in Valley Village that caught the foot of a coyote pup who eventually had to be euthanized has been charged with a felony count of animal cruelty, officials said Wednesday.
Richard David Wallem is also charged with a misdemeanor count of using a trap with saw-toothed or spiked jaws to take fur-bearing mammals, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
It was not immediately clear when Wallem would be arraigned.
“Coyotes are curious, playful, loyal animals who love their families, and maiming them with torturous steel-jaw traps is not only hideously cruel but illegal,” Lisa Lange, PETA’s senior vice president, said in a statement Wednesday. “The terror that this pup endured only ended when a kind teen stepped forward. We must be good neighbors to our local wildlife and stop demanding the extermination of sensitive animals who are simply trying to survive.”
The coyote pup reportedly had its foot stuck in the trap for more than 24 hours over the Fourth of July weekend before a local teenager heard its cries and alerted authorities, who had to euthanize the pup because of the severity of its injuries, according to PETA.
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