West LA Coyote Pack Caught on Camera Killing Cat as Residents Demand City Action

Coyotes Caught on Camera in West LA, Residents Say City Isn't Doing Enough

A home security camera in West Los Angeles recorded a pack of coyotes moving through a residential neighborhood, and the footage shows one of the animals attacking and killing a cat before walking off with it in its mouth, according to CBS News. The same camera caught a dog and its owner walking through the area moments later.

West LA resident Gale Barnum told CBS News the killings are hard to watch. "I hate to hear about cats or dogs, or little dogs, or little cats," Barnum said. "It just hurts."

Neighbors say this isn't a one-off. Residents told CBS News that coyote sightings have become routine in the area, and they're pointing to two likely drivers: unusual weather patterns and displacement from recent wildfires pushing animals out of their normal territory and into neighborhoods.

"That's all pushing them into areas of human habitation," said Brad Artson, another West LA resident. "They don't want to be here any more than we want them here."

Artson isn't calling for the animals to be harmed. He wants them relocated. "I do hope that the city and the state are doing what they can to find them and then humanely send them to places where they can just live their lives far away from us," he told CBS News.

A pack of coyotes killing a house cat on camera in a residential neighborhood raises legitimate public safety concerns. Residents in the area, including Barnum, are increasingly asking their city council what will be done about it.

This Isn't the First Warning Sign

Coyote encounters with pets and even people aren't new to the region. A Ring camera in Woodland Hills, in the San Fernando Valley, captured a coyote attempting to drag a small child away in broad daylight, according to KTLA. That incident predates the current West LA sightings by several years but residents still point to it as proof the risk is real, not hypothetical.

Earlier this year, a family in Orange County lost seven goats to coyote attacks, according to the New York Post. That family, Steve and Karen Blume of Nellie Gail Ranch in Laguna Hills, tried to solve the problem the responsible way: they raised the height of their backyard fence to keep the predators out. Instead of praise, they got a lawsuit. Their homeowners association sued them for exceeding the community's six-foot fence height limit without prior approval.

A family loses livestock to a documented predator threat, takes reasonable action to protect what's left of their property, and gets dragged into litigation by an HOA more concerned with aesthetic uniformity than a family's actual safety.

What Happens Next

No timeline has been announced by the City of Los Angeles or the state for trapping or relocating the coyotes seen in the West LA footage. California classifies coyotes as a nongame mammal rather than a protected species, meaning they can generally be hunted without a closed season, and relocating trapped wildlife is not permitted under state law. Wildlife agencies have historically leaned toward coexistence strategies—securing trash, not leaving pet food outside, keeping small pets indoors at dawn and dusk—over mass relocation or lethal removal, though no state or city official is quoted in current reporting confirming what approach will apply here.

That leaves residents like Barnum and Artson waiting for direction from the city on how it will respond to a pack of coyotes killing pets on camera.