Gunfire at 2 am? Texans blast city's midnight coyote hunt

Among those voicing opposition was Rebecca Hamlin, who runs the North Texas Wildlife Center, an animal rehabilitation facility. In a series of posts, Hamlin urged residents to contact the city and ask officials to reconsider the plan. 

Hamlin recounted her own experience losing a pet cat to a coyote years earlier. "It was devastating, but I very quickly came to understand that the fault was mine," she wrote. "I violated both city and HOA ordinances that were in place to keep pets safe."

She said her loss motivated her to advocate for coexistence with urban wildlife. "Coyotes are part of our natural environment, they act on instinct, not malice," she wrote. "We can't villainize wildlife for being wild and doing what they're hard-wired to do."

Hamlin also cited Project Coyote, an animal advocacy group that has long criticized the USDA Wildlife Services' lethal control program, calling it cruel, wasteful and ineffective. The organization has urged federal and local officials to pursue nonlethal coexistence strategies instead.