Owner fighting to get animal back from Indiana
On Sept. 22, representatives from the Burlington, Indiana, rescue facility traveled to west suburban Chicago to take possession of 13-year-old Luna.
The coyote’s packmates — Sandy, 13; Bella, 10; and Peytah, 4 — died in custody shortly after they were removed April 24 from pens in Tomi Tranchita’s backyard by Illinois Dept. of Natural Resources conservation police and Cook County Animal Control officers.
Prior to the raid, Tranchita had cared for the animals for 13 years, after all had been brought to her as abandoned coyote pups that she said could not be returned to the wild.
“My life is in shambles without my coyotes. They were my entire life. They gave me purpose and joy in educating the public and were definitely my companion animals,” Tranchita said.
Though she said she believes Luna is better off at the Indiana rescue than she was at the IDNR holding facility, Tranchita said she still holds out hope that the animal will be returned to her.
According to the IDNR, the Indiana facility “provides permanent homes for non-releasable coyotes.”
The sanctuary, it said in a statement, “will provide a permanent place for the coyote as Illinois law does not provide for such sanctuaries.
Prior to transfer, a veterinarian working with the Illinois rehabilitation facility housing the coyote verified she was eating appropriately and in good condition.”
Tranchita takes issue with IDNR’s assessment of the animal’s health, saying Luna is “depressed.”
“For the past three months Luna was kept indoors without sunlight, ground beneath her feet, or nature of any kind,” Tranchita said. “I was witness to Luna laying on stone in her own waste and too afraid to move. Isolation is torture for any pack animal, and it was pure torture for me to see her in such a state.”
After the coyotes were seized, the IDNR issued a statement that “Keeping wildlife as pets is illegal in Illinois.”
At the time, IDNR issued three citations for violations of the Illinois Wildlife Code including unlawful collection of a protected species without a permit. IDNR records show no IDNR licenses or permits for Tranchita, said department spokesman Tim Schweizer at the time.
Tranchita’s attorney, G. David Tenenbaum, said Tranchita did have a USDA license and that her Illinois permit had lapsed.
On Sept. 17, the criminal case was settled in Circuit Court when Tranchita agreed to plead to a misdemeanor charge that she did not have the state “fur-bearing animal” permit at the time of the seizure. Under the plea agreement, IDNR agreed to transfer Luna to the Indiana Coyote Rescue Center.
“This was the only way to save Luna, agreeing to plead guilty to that one charge,” Tranchita said.
That same day, Tenenbaum filed with the 1st District Appellate Court, seeking to overturn the Circuit Court’s ruling on the grounds that Tranchita’s property rights had been violated and that she was denied due process.
“The trial court ruling said she had no property interest in the coyotes and therefore they are contraband,” Tenenbaum said. “There’s an Illinois statute that gives Tomi a property interest in the coyotes so therefore they’re not contraband.
“And there were certain 14th amendment rights that were not given to her,” he said.
The statute, he said, “even mentions coyotes if the person has a federal Class C Exhibitors license. And Tomi at all times had the USDA federal Class C Exhibitors license. So based on that she has a right of property.”
The IDNR, he said, failed to give notice and a hearing before or after the seizure.
Meanwhile, Luna is adjusting to her new home, according to a post on the Coyote Rescue Center’s Facebook page.
“Already, Luna is showing vast improvements from her last videos. She is curious of her new enclosure but also stressed after transport and exposure to another unfamiliar environment,” it states.
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