No charges in bunny death

Kelowna exterminator allegedly stomped animal

Cassidy Olivier, The Province
Published: Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Cruelty charges will not be laid against a pest exterminator alleged to have stomped on the head of a rabbit that had been shot with a pellet gun.

A woman who claimed to have witnessed the act told CBC she saw the exterminator walk over to the shot rabbit that was "flopping around on the grass," and stomp on its head several times.

But Const. Steve Holmes of the Kelowna RCMP said the police investigation found that the person had not intended to cause the animal undue or prolonged pain and was "engaged in a lawful purpose in dispatching the rabbit."

In order for charges to be laid under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, it must be proved that the perpetrator's actions were wilful and intended to cause unnecessary suffering.

"In this case, his actions did not dictate either of those things," said Holmes. "Obviously, the person took no joy in it otherwise we would be looking at it differently."

The City of Kelowna launched a feral rabbit control program this fall to deal with the approximately 2,000 rabbits running amok in the city.

The year-long contract was awarded to Vancouver-based EBB Environmental Consulting Inc. which has since used high-powered pellet guns and live trapping methods to deal with the animals.

A spokesman for EBB Consulting, who did not want to be named, said some of the woman's accusations were "erroneous." He said no head-stomping was involved.

After the rabbit was shot, he said, the EBB employee broke the rabbit's neck "to make sure [it] was completely immobilized."

He said that was deemed the most "appropriate method for that specific incident."

The spokesman said EBB Consulting was in contact with the appropriate groups, including the SPCA, before the cull began to ensure the methods to be used were the most "humane options available to us."

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