Petcetera has been contacted on numerous occasions by animal welfare groups and the general public requesting a response as to why intact baby bunnies are still being sold in retail outlets across Canada. With four more stores slated to open in 2008 it is evident that exploiting lives for profits is the motive, not a commitment to reducing pet overpopulation, as Mr Urbani, President and CEO, would have you think.

Or is it that some lives are more expendable than others? Abandoned rabbits are found in municipalities across the country and thousands of others are killed by so-called shelters simply because there's no room to accommodate the multitudes of unwanted.

Mark Takhar, manager of the BC SPCA Vancouver/Burnaby branch, in a recent press release, stated that the society is challenged to find homes for hundreds of abandoned or stray rabbits. In a three-year period ending September 2007, close to 2,500 rabbits were admitted to branches across the province. How many of those were transferred to other groups or bought out because they were under threat of "euthanasia" or sitting on Death Row. How many perfectly healthy rabbits' lives were destroyed by the BC SPCA, not because they were "beyond medical help" nor "highly aggressive" as Mr Daniell, CEO would have one believe? And how many others, dumped into our municipalities, met their fate by "gunshot euthanasia", a practice which meets with SPCA approval, provided it's done correctly.

The BC SPCA and Petcetera have a business partnership. An excerpt from the original contract says that both parties agree and do not approve of "indiscriminate or mass breeding of pet animals destined for the marketplace." Excuse me?

Mr Urbani knows all too well that baby rabbits are impulse buys destined for disposal, yet company flyers, complete with picture, continue to advertise their availability. It's a never-ending cycle, the pockets of breeders being lined and the market over-saturated. In fact, Petcetera's Plus Warehouse Club caters to breeders, giving them the same benefits of "Plus" members as well as an additional 10% discount on merchandise.

So much for corporate responsibility, the well-being of rabbits, and this company's "mission to reduce euthanasia of homeless animals."

http://www.rabbitadvocacy.com/more_bunny_debate__petcetera.htm

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