News

It seems you can't go more than a week without Kelowna and its rabbit population being in the news. This newest story "Rabbit rescue hits snag" by Wayne Moore on the "Castanet.net - Kelowna Online News" tells you just how out of control this situation is. Wayne Moore wrote that Sinikka Crosland a spokesperson for The Responsible Animal Care Society (TRACS) stated a proposal to capture and relocate the rabbits is already in place with volunteers ready to go. However the government's Wildlife Branch has pointed out one crucial piece of information which has been overlooked "rabbits are considered to be wildlife". It is illegal to capture or possess wildlife. For these rabbits to be captured or even culled applicants must first submit a detailed proposal, animal care application and general permits applications, a process that can take weeks to approve.

Personal Note: The rabbits roaming Kelowna cannot be found naturally in the wild anywhere in North America and yet they are still considered to be wildlife by the Wildlife Branch. I would now expect that every person who owns a pet rabbit to turn themselves into the local wildlife authorities as there is no distinction between ones pet and one roaming the city of Kelowna. Last time I checked these rabbits are called "domestic rabbits" therefore does that not imply domestic versus wildlife.

The rabbits of the Okanogan once again take the headlines in the "Kelowna Capital News". Jennifer Smith wrote an article called "Vernon animal advocate helps solve Vernon’s rabbit dilemma". The city of Vernon has recently teamed up with Maurie Deaton, an animal advocate, in order to control the rabbit population. Initial steps taken by the city were to capture the rabbits and have them taken to a local farm to be raised as meat. Maurie Deaton on the other hand began by capturing rabbits in her own yard and would nurse them all back to health, sterilize them all (from hew own pocket), before adopting them out to new homes. Maurie has received funding from Animal Advocates of BC, Animal Care Society in Vernon, the Humane Society of Canada and now the City of Vernon. She has also partnered with three pet stores which have agreed take in her rabbits and adopt them out. A portion of the city's race track has been donated to provide a temporary home for the rabbits while they are nursed back to health, sterilized and can be found new homes. The Responsible Animal Control group in Kelowna believes this to be the ideal solution for the rabbits in Kelowna and is currently talking with the SPCA and other groups to see if they can make it happen.

Further to news reports late last year regarding the interior city being over run by rabbits, Kelowna and its rabbits are once again in the spotlight. "Kelowna Capital News" ran an article by Jennifer Smith called "Resilient bunny population in need of culling" on January 20, 2008 and another article ran by "Castanet.net - Kelowna Online News" on January 22, 2008 was called "Culling may be part of solution" by Wayne Moore. Kelowna is asking the Regional District and The Responsible Animal Care Society (TRACS) for advise on the ever-growing rabbit population. Some of the things being discussed are: capture & euthanize; capture, butcher and sell as meat (something that Vernon supposedly does although I have been unable to verify this); relocating populations; spaying/neutering populations (which is not cost effective) and long term maintenance programs. Regardless of what option is chosen, the decision will be an emotional one and culling will most like play a part as the population needs to be decreased to a more manageable level. In addition to dealing with the problem at hand there are also several options being discussed to prevent this from happening in the future. Some of the preventative options on the table are, putting in place bylaws preventing pet stores from selling unaltered rabbits (an option that all 3 pet stores that currently sell rabbits are willing to agree to) and imposing fines to anyone caught dumping a rabbit, bylaws to prohibit people from feeding the rabbits is also being discussed even though similar bylaws have proven to be ineffective. Last year a local rabbit breeder Roxane Woldenga had predicted that if the problem wasn't dealt with soon it would become a financial nightmare. The city is now coming to terms with the fact that Roxane Woldenga was right. Council members are now hesitant to spend thousands of dollars dealing with homeless rabbits when there are so many homeless people that need to be taken care of first. Both the Regional District and The Responsible Animal Care Society (TRACS) are expected to have reports out within the next month. This is a far cry from last year when parks manager Joe Creron maintained it's not the city's responsibility to cull or control the rabbits and placed sole responsibility on individual home owners. One thing all these articles had in common is that it is inhumane to dump rabbits and to leave them to be eaten by coyotes, hit by cars as well as starving & freezing to death.

Personal Note: Funny how a problem on private property is the home owners' responsibility, however, as soon as it becomes a city problem affecting commercial and city properties it finally gets the attention it really needed in the beginning.

"CBCNews.ca" ran an article called "SPCA to close Coquitlam shelter due to noise complaints" . The previous day prior to this article the BCSPCA issued a formal "Press Release" that the Coquitlam SPCA will close as of July 1, 2008. In addition 3 staff members will be layed off and the SPCA will be terminating contracts with both Port Coquitlam and Pitt Meadows. The reason behind this decision is that the City of Coquitlam has received noise complaints from a small group of nearby residents. The City of Coquitlam has stated that they will issue tickets and/or seek an injunction against the SPCA for contravening the city's noise bylaw. The complaining residents have also threatened the SPCA with legal action.Coquitlam/Maple Ridge branch manager Hugh Nichols said in an interview for the Now Newspaper, when this issue first came to light, that staff have tried just about everything to appease neighbouring residents. They've hung sound-absorbing panels in the kennels, limited the number of dogs at the shelter, moved the animals to the back of the facility so they don't get excited when they see people approaching and even taken to playing a CD that's designed to keep canines calm. The CD consists of nursery rhymes with the heartbeat of a dog played overtop. The City of Coquitlam maintains the position that they are not forcing the SPCA to close but rather reduce the noise level. An engineer hired by the SPCA to investigate noise levels and found that the sound from passing gravel trucks is significantly louder than the noise from barking dogs. The SPCA has been at its current location for 48 years, long before the area was developed as a residential zone.

"No more dogs to Coquitlam SPCA" May 20, 2007 in the Province Newspaper

"SPCA to Close Doors" January 7, 2008 in the Province Newspaper

Personal Note: I would think that the SPCA or any Kennel/Pound would be exempt from such noise bylaws. The SPCA was there long before people lived in the area so home owners should have considered the noise before buying near by. Just my 2-cents worth.

An article on the www.ukpets.co.uk website called "Wildlife Network Alarmed By Pet Rabbit Dental Problems" expresses the concern of the Wildlife Information Network (WIN) regarding the extent of dental problems found in captive rabbits. Acquired dental disorders are rare in the wild rabbit (European Rabbit & forefather of the domestic rabbit) and yet are one of the most common problems found in captive rabbits. There are a few factors which can contribute to dental disease, however, Nikki Fox, Senior Veterinary Editor of WIN cites poor nutrition as the most significant and an easily preventable cause. "Rabbits need to receive sufficient levels of calcium and vitamin D in their diet for correct tooth and bone development, and adequate tough fibrous foods such as hay and grasses for proper wear of their teeth."