DNV's 'bunny bylaw' will ban sale of reproductive rabbits
By Benjamin Alldritt, North Shore News May 7, 2010
District of North Vancouver councillors voted unanimously Monday to ban the sale of "sexually intact" rabbits at pet stores.
"I want to rename this the Bunny Bylaw," quipped Coun. Lisa Muri.
The bylaw requires any rabbit sold from a pet shop to be spayed or neutered and for the store to display documents from the veterinarian who performed the operation. Failing to do so could result in a $150 fine.
Kim Marosevich, manager of the district's animal shelter, told council that she receives regular requests for help from families who purchased a pet rabbit that was not the gender advertised or, in some cases, already pregnant.
"Some of these rabbits find their way to the shelter or to community-based rescue associations," she wrote in her report. "Some are abandoned at the shelter or in a park. Our facility is at capacity as they are challenging animals to find homes for."
Exploding rabbit populations have created havoc in several places, leading to outright bans on bunnies. The University of Victoria is one of the more prominent examples in British Columbia.
While the problem isn't at that scale yet in North Vancouver, Marosevich argued that requiring pet rabbits to be spayed or neutered was a useful proactive step.
Coun. Mike Little said he had received several letters calling for a blanket ban on the sale of pet rabbits. "I do have some concerns about the rhetoric flying around here," he said. "I don't know if we have an issue with feral bunnies in our community."
Little said he had called around pet stores in the district and none of them were currently selling rabbits. He pointed out that the municipality was not able to regulate informal pet sales, which are frequently arranged on Internet sites.
Little also suggested that some of the rabbits at the shelter could be moved to Maplewood Farm, an idea Marosevich said she would look into.
Little then yielded the floor to Coun. Doug Mackay-Dunn. "No, I think I'll just hop along," Mackay-Dunn said, to widespread groans.
Mayor Richard Walton swiftly called for a vote.