Wheaton let teachable moment slip

Teachable moments are those times when circumstances are optimum for instilling knowledge. We don't think about communities having teachable moments, but Wheaton had one and let it slip.

On January 27, a small dog was let out to do his duty in a neighborhood experiencing increased coyote visits. The dog was attacked. The first human response was a police officer whose voice scared the coyote off the seriously injured dog. At City Planning Meeting on Feb. 8, the dog's owners savaged the council in closed session with derision, contempt and melodrama. And that night the cull was voted in with one dissent.

This was a teachable moment missed, and the lesson was so simple. It is on the Wheaton police Web site: "It is especially important to keep pets on a leash during this time." The lesson lost was that if you have a small dog in a coyote-frequented area during mating season, take him on a leash to do his duty. In addition to wise pet ownership, the mayor and the council could have taught Civics 101 and fiscal restraint.

Instead, the lesson delivered was that if you expose your dog to coyote attack, the city will fund the killing of some coyotes and all will be well. Like a medieval town, it hired a Pied Piper in the form of a charismatic trapper to take its problems away. The real work of the trapper is the primal psychology of a shaman, transferring the guilt of leaving a dog to die onto a coyote, any coyote, who steps in a trap.

Despite the mismanaged fear and angst in Wheaton, teachable moments remain and wise leaders will seize them.

Steve Kightlinger

Wheaton