Rabbit-shooting ban continues

Kelowna Daily Courier
Chuck Poulsen
2008-10-23

The city will continue its ban on shooting rabbits, approving instead either adoption or one of two forms of killing after they have been trapped.

“The SPCA has indicated they will take small numbers and there‘s a group out of Vancouver called the Rabbit Advocacy Group that has offered to help find homes for some of them,” said the city‘s Ian Wilson.

“The SPCA has told us there are two forms (of euthanasia) that would be acceptable to them. One is called a penetrating captive bolt, something like a device used in the cattle industry. That would be the preferred method. The other method is lethal injection.”

The bolt is injected into the animal‘s head, then it retracts. It was the weapon of choice by the sociopath hitman Anton Chigurh in the movie No Country for Old Men.

“The biggest problem with injection is that the carcasses can‘t then be provided to wildlife shelters for food,” said Wilson. “They‘ve been providing them as food for raptors and other kinds of wildlife. They can‘t eat the rabbits if there is poison in them.”

The city discontinued the air-gun shooting of the rabbits after an employee from the contractor, EBB Environmental Consulting, was seen stomping a rabbit to death after a pellet failed to kill it.

The suspension of air rifle use remains.

“If live trapping is not effective in reducing the number of feral rabbits, the city may revisit the use of air rifles as a rabbit-management technique,” said Wilson.

“The public can assist by not feeding the feral rabbits which are more difficult to trap when food sources are readily available.”

The public is also asked to make donations to animal rescue shelters to assist with the cost of housing and spaying and neutering feral rabbits.

Wilson said feral European rabbits have caused severe damage in other areas around the world and could be particularly damaging to Kelowna‘s agricultural industry.