Bunnies are hazardous, UVic warns
They're cute, but they spread disease, and university wants to cut population
Judith Lavoie, Times Colonist
Published: Saturday, September 06, 2008
The bunnies that hop around the University of Victoria campus might look like pets, but they're really a health hazard, university officials warn.
Feral rabbits can spread disease, bite the hands that feed them and cause injuries to athletes, UVic's campus planning and sustainability director Neil Connelly said yesterday. Connelly is spearheading a campaign to reduce the campus rabbit population by changing the way people think about the creatures.
"At this point, we are focusing on non-lethal methods, and especially keeping the rabbits away from athletic fields and gardens," said Connelly, a member of a committee developing a rabbit management plan.
The university has become a dumping ground for people who no longer want the animals as pets, and the problem is made worse because students and others on campus feed them, Connelly said. Recent food left out for the rabbits included wieners, pita bread, vegetable patties and onions, none of which make up a healthy rabbit diet, and the leftovers are attracting rats.
The university's first line of attack is an education campaign. Posters, brochures and bookmarks will remind students that rabbit abandonment is illegal and that campus wildlife should not be fed, petted or harassed by dogs.
UVic is also asking Greater Victoria municipalities to toughen pet-abandonment bylaws and to consider banning the sale of unspayed and unneutered rabbits, except to licensed breeders.
The university will plant thorny and indigenous plants that do not make cushy nesting sites or tasty snacks, Connelly said.
Erika Paul, Victoria SPCA animal protection officer, said it is already an offence under provincial law and the Criminal Code to abandon an animal in distress.
However, it is often difficult to collect enough evidence for charges, and education is a good option, she said.
People need to realize the hazards and terror a domestic animal will experience when it is abandoned in the wild, Paul said. Domestic rabbits do not have the instincts to avoid natural predators, she said.
Paul also applauded the idea of a ban on the sale of unneutered animals.
City of Victoria spokeswoman Katie Josephson said Victoria deals with rabbits through the animal-control bylaw.
"But we only get about 12 calls a year. It's not a significant issue from the animal-control perspective," she said.
If the city received a request from UVic to ban the sale of unneutered rabbits, council would probably consider it, Josephson said.