District denies feral rabbit funding

Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star Published: February 06, 2009 4:00 PM

Efforts to control feral rabbits will have to get along without financial support from rural residents. The North Okanagan Regional District has shot down a request from Rabbit Rescue for $5,000 from the five electoral areas. “We don’t have any rabbits. The coyotes keep eating them,” said Herman Halvorson, rural Enderby director. “I haven’t seen a rabbit in Grindrod in ages.” The funds would have helped the Vernon-based volunteer group live trap rabbits, spay or neuter the animals and then find them homes. Feral rabbits originate from domestic rabbits that pet owners have abandoned, and Halvorson believes that is another reason why rural residents should not contribute funds. “We don’t have any pet stores in our area so it’s not a problem,” he said. Similar views come from Cliff Kanester, BX-Swan Lake alternate director.“We have no rabbit problem out here,” he said.“There are enough coyotes, dogs and raccoons around that there isn’t a rabbit within 40 miles of my place.”

Maurie Deaton, founder of Rabbit Rescue, isn’t surprised that her request has been turned down by rural politicians. “We have caught some bunnies out there but they don’t have many,” she said. Deaton’s main focus is to get financial support from local municipalities because many of them have pet stores and that appears to be where most rabbits live. “The biggest area with a problem has been Coldstream and the other is Spallumcheen,” she said. It can cost $2,000 a month to spay and neuter 20 rabbits and Deaton says that is a considerable burden for volunteers to come up with. Deaton also insists that politicians and residents need to understand how quickly the rabbit population can get out of hand. “In six months, two bunnies can become 100 and then those 100 breed,” she said. The rabbits not only can destroy plants and crops as they look for food, but their digging can cause damage to yards and homes.

One jurisdiction that won’t be hit up for cash is the City of Vernon, which provided $5,000 in 2008.“Now after their support and our trapping efforts, we do not have much of a feral rabbit problem in the city,” said Deaton. Rabbit Rescue is also offering to provide temporary housing to some rabbits from Kelowna, until they can be permanently adopted by Warren Peace Bunny Sanctuary in Oyama. “Obviously, we have enough bunnies here to find homes for, so this is the most we can do to help them,” said Deaton. “However, we really don’t want to see any more of their bunnies killed, so we are offering these options to (Kelowna) council and hope they will accept our partnership.”