Dilworth rabbits in peril
By J.P. SQUIRE
Wednesday, August 16, 2006, 12:02 AM
http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/article_2832.php

A Central Okanagan animal welfare group is investigating
reports of domestic rabbits killed and maimed in a frightening parallel to the killing of Rutland cats.
And like the two Rutland cats dismembered during the past week ,and as many as six in 2004, it’s not the first time the Dilworth rabbits have been attacked.
Sinikka Crosland, president of The Responsible Animal Care Society (TRACS), is reviewing information that one rabbit was killed and another paralysed from the mid-section to tail on Aug. 5.
The reports indicate “a group of miserable excuses for human beings happened upon a bunch of baby rabbits and started beating and punching them for sport.”
Another report indicated those responsible used slingshots and marbles as weapons.
One baby rabbit was killed and the other rescued and examined by a veterinarian.
On Jan. 30, 2005, a TRACS director was driving on Hunter Road near Leckie Road when she spotted two young people chasing the rabbits which live in that area.
The young man had an open bottle of liquor, two-thirds full, in one hand and a metal baseball bat in the other.
When questioned, they claimed they were trying to catch the rabbits. When asked if they were trying to hurt the rabbits, the two became belligerent and threatening.
The circumstances and a description were filed with Kelowna RCMP.
On Feb. 20, the same director was driving in the same area when she spotted a dead rabbit at the base of a tree. When she stopped, she saw a second dead rabbit in nearby shrubs.
“Death was unquestionably due to severe head trauma,” concluded a veterinarian who conducted an autopsy.
“Both rabbits’ skulls were completely crushed. It is my opinion that these rabbits were killed intentionally with malicious blows to the head. There was no evidence to support death by any other means.”
The culprits were never found, but no more dead rabbits were discovered.
Two years ago, TRACS was so concerned about the welfare of the Dilworth rabbits that it considered a rescue program
involving spaying/neutering and lined up a woman who could keep them on her property for the rest of their lives.
The public reaction was favourable, although a few who regularly fed them objected to their relocation.
Thirty to 40 volunteers offered to help, but then rabbits started disappearing. TRACS members were worried someone might be exterminating them, but eventually concluded it was part of a natural migration of the rabbits to another area near Dilworth Mountain.
“We noticed the same phenomenon last summer: boom, they were gone,” said Crosland.

© Wednesday, August 16, 2006Copyright KelownaDailyCourier.ca