If Canmore’s politicians choose lethal means to deal with its burgeoning bunny population they will face a legal challenge from the Humane Society of Canada.
The organization’s chairman and CEO Michael O’Sullivan in a recent letter to the Town’s mayor said the group is opposed to the killing of the Canmore rabbits because it is inhumane and doomed to failure.
O’Sullivan said if Canmore chooses a lethal solution to a human caused problem the Humane Society will mount a legal challenge against it.
“As the Humane Society of Canada we feel we need to draw a line in the sand,” he said. “We hope it does not come to that because we want to work with people to solve this.”
He said a major concern for the organization is that if Canmore goes down that road it will set of a chain of events across the country encouraging other communities to deal with wildlife issues in a similar fashion.
“This is a political issue not one of public health or safety,” O’Sullivan said. “As human beings we interfere with the natural world all the time and while nature is cruel we don’t have to be.”
Canmore’s Mayor Ron Casey, however, disagrees with assessment of the situation by the national organization.
“They are incorrect in their assessment,” Casey said. “It is a wildlife issue for us but it might not be for other communities.
“We are in an entirely different circumstance here.”
The feral rabbits, which are present throughout the community, are the offspring of domesticated pets that were released by their owners.
While the rabbits are cute and cuddly the mayor maintains they also act as a wildlife attractant for coyotes and cougars. If those species cause problems within the town’s limits as a result the reaction by Fish and Wildlife is often to destroy them.
He questioned whether killing native species so non-native ones can continue to persist is better than a possible cull.
That being said, Casey said the Humane Society is jumping the gun.
“We have made a decision to do something around it but we have not awarded the contract yet,” he said adding the letter makes great press for group. “If they cared they would have contacted us before threatening to take us to court.”
Earlier this summer the municipality issued a request for proposals for management plans, both lethal and non-lethal, to address the unchecked feral rabbit population.
O’Sullivan said the Humane Society of Canada usually likes to quietly watch these kinds of situations but it was contacted by a company that was going to bid on the contract.
It wanted the society’s endorsement for a plan to humanely euthanize the rabbits and use them as food for raptors.
“As sometimes happens people try to misrepresent our position so we came out publicly,” O’Sullivan said.
