A Prairie Village couple is suing the city of Mission Hills after their two dogs were severely injured by coyote traps at a city park earlier this year.
Last week, Elisabeth Kirsch and Douglas Drake filed a lawsuit against Mission Hills for gross, wanton negligence and emotional distress. The suit comes nearly a year after the couple’s two dogs were severely injured in city-placed coyote traps at a city park.
The couple is seeking “fair and reasonable” compensation and is demanding a trial, according to court documents.
City Administrator Jennifer Lee said the city does not comment on pending litigation.
The coyote trap incident occurred in February
- On Feb. 6, Kirsch walked her dogs — 12-year-old Fred and 13-year-old Oreo — at Peetwood Park when they each got caught in traps intended for coyotes.
- Both dogs needed more than a dozen teeth pulled and extensive leg surgery.
- Later that month, the city of Mission Hills released a statement that said the dogs were off-leash.
- The city also posted five signs at the park that said “Nuisance Animal Trapping in Progress” seven days before the traps were placed at Peetwood Park, that statement said.
- Mission Hills removed the coyote traps after the February incident, and discussed taking a step back from trapping efforts that same month.
- The park runs along Indian Lane near West 65th Terrace, about a block away from Mission Road — Mission Hills’ western city limits next to Prairie Village.
Attorney says lawsuit ‘is fairly detailed on the facts’
- Rik Siro, an attorney with Kansas City-based law firm Siro Smith Dickson, PC, representing Kirsch and Drake, said he and his team’s “goal is to make sure this never happens again in our community.”
- Siro told the Post via email that the city intentionally placed “multiple hidden steel traps, all scented to attract coyotes and family dogs” in a public park.
- He said he and his team believe they will prove in trial that placing those traps in Peetwood Park “showed a reckless disregard for the safety of the public.”
- “Our strong belief is that this incident and the resulting serious injuries to Fred, Oreo, and our clients should never have happened,” Siro said.
Lawsuit calls Mission Hills’ actions ‘extreme and outrageous’
- The lawsuit alleges the city “is guilty of gross and wanton negligence” because it created a dangerous environment for the public.
- It also alleges multiple, qualified trappers declined to take charge of the city’s coyote trapping efforts, leaving the responsibility to the city arborist.
- The lawsuit also alleges that the city knew the hidden coyote traps were placed in areas where people and their dogs walk on or by, and that there was no indication to the public that they’d be walking near the traps.
- “Defendant knew that it was particularly and uniquely dangerous to place the hidden traps in a public park instead of placing them on private property as they had done in the past,” the lawsuit reads.
Go deeper: Coyotes have been spotted in northeast JoCo — Here’s how to protect your pets
