Crowd cross over bunny cull

Ron Seymour Kelowna Courier June 1
A boisterous group of protesters called Saturday for the City of Kelowna to rethink its plan to eradicate thousands of wild rabbits. Holding placards with messages such as City Council Hires Death Squad to Kill Bunnies, about 100 people gathered at the corner of Enterprise Way and Dilworth Drive. They waved and called out to passing motorists, many of whom honked their horns in apparent support for the protesters‘ cause. “Rabbits are awesome and they shouldn‘t be killed,” said Cody Chase, 16, who added he personally helped the Responsible Animal Care Society trap and relocate some of the animals to secure pens in the Joe Rich area. Ferne Carr, a past president of the Kelowna SPCA, said the city‘s decision to award a $54,000 contract to a company to kill the rabbits was inhumane. “When sanctuary is available, eradication doesn‘t make sense,” Carr said. “Killing is not the answer. I like to think we live in a more compassionate society.” A couple of people were dressed in big rabbit costumes. Some protesters wore rabbit ears, and others held aloft plush toy rabbits. Demonstrators ranged in age from small children to senior citizens. Other signs read Culling is Murder, Cull Council, and Hop to it, Kelowna!

Event organizers Kendra Jespersen and Courtney O‘Hare hope to gather up to 10,000 names on a petition asking council to reconsider its rabbit-control program at the June 9 meeting. Are rabbits really causing all the damage the city says they are? I think there should be a lot more research on this,” Jespersen said. “When I heard the city planned to kill them, I just thought that was disgusting.” The turnout for the protest, and the collection of several thousand names on the petition in a relatively short period, should send a strong message to council, said Sinnika Crosland of TRACS. “Rabbits are as dear to the hearts of many people as are cats and dogs,” Crosland said. “Killing them is just wrong.” Some people who drove by the protesters obviously had a different opinion on the matter. One passenger in a car leaned out the window, pumped his arm up and down, and shouted, “Kill the frigging bunnies! Kill ‘em all!” Mayor Sharon Shepherd said later that reconsidering the issue may not be as easy as the protesters believe. The contract has already been awarded to EBB Environmental Consulting, she noted, and, in any event, she had no reason to believe councillors had changed their mind on the issue.