B.C. court slaps injunction on UVic's planned bunny massacre
Victoria - The Canadian Press Published on Wednesday, Aug. 04, 2010
9:04AM EDT
The University of Victoria says it has been served with a B.C. Supreme
Court
<http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/bc-court-slaps-injunction-on-uvics-planned-bunny-massacre/article1661374/#>
injunction preventing it from attempting to trap and cull feral rabbits
munching through its Victoria, B.C., campus.
Trapping has been suspended while the university deals with the court
action but a statement from UVic also says it continues to work with
community groups trying to find new homes for some of the 1,600 bunnies.
A spokesman for the groups says the injunction provides some breathing
room, because members believe the university planned to cull the rabbits
before arrangements could be made to move them.
Gino Schifrin says a farm in Coombs, north of Nanaimo, has offered to
take some of the bunnies and a rescue organization in Texas is prepared
to take 1,000 of the critters.
But he says red tape has stalled efforts to obtain the necessary permits
to ship the rabbits to their new homes.
As the Globe and Mail reported, the centrepiece of the original plan are
two zones - a "safe zone" in the centre of campus and a "dead zone"
around residences, sports fields and nearby neighbourhoods.
Two hundred of the fuzzy creatures will be allowed to live in the
40-hectare safe zone within the perimeter of Ring Road. Food will be
provided to entice the bunnies to stay within the prescribed space.
The current population creates massive amounts of feces, decimates plant
life and litters the campus with dangerous rabbit holes.
With files from Globe staff