Shocked over shot dogs

I was shocked and dismayed to hear about the two dogs trapped and then shot in the county. My heart goes out to the dogs and their owners for this senseless event.

But unless I missed it, there has been no discussion of just why it is necessary to set traps for coyotes in the first place. Can someone explain this to me? Are there proven cases of coyote predation in the county? If so, are there not better ways to handle the threat?

Setting leg traps for animals is senseless and cruel except perhaps in extreme situations. I even feel sorry for the opossum that was trapped, and then either died a slow and agonizing death or was shot by the trap's owner. He did nothing to deserve that fate, and of course neither did the dogs.

Gary Anthes, Castleton