[scrubcedar]

I'm going to repost a story from my own experience. Lived in a rural suburb of Denver when my kids were smaller. (9-14y.o.) The coyotes were VERY thick in the area and equally aggressive. It got to the point where nightly we would hear the yipping that they used to communicate while they were running down prey, then silence when they caught it. The kids started coming home in the evening saying as the sun started to go down the coyotes would start to follow them. The thing that prompted some changes was when they came in, and ran in the door terrified saying a pack had followed them making those sounds. They were on their bikes at the time and able to get safely home, barely. I called the local LE and asked if they had heard anything along those lines. Turns out new building in the area had concentrated them near our house and they were killing pets and scaring joggers pretty much daily. Too close to town to shoot, too many to handle that way anyway. Bought the kids bear pepper spray, best I could do. Part of the reason we moved not too long after.
Coyotes ARE intelligent like the OP said. Hearing other coyotes make horrible sounds as they died MIGHT scare them off the area, a net benefit. I'd feel bad about it but in some cicumstances it's simply needed no matter how it is done.
I feel very close to animals out in the wild. My tribal friends (Shoshone-Bannock) always claimed that how I felt about animals was very close to their beliefs.

I have watched time and time again as small birds attacked a bigger bird to drive it from their territory, and have heard of coyotes deliberately killing off competing predators in their territory.
Even using the OP's logic, I as a fellow animal have the same rights they do.