The sale of small animals in pet shops is once again under fire, this time from the Small Animal Rescue Society of B.C., which is calling on the city to ban the retail sale of animals after an increase in rescues this year.
Lisa Hutcheon, president of the
society, told the Burnaby NOW the rescue has been extra busy this year.
"I've been doing this for 12 years, and this year has been horrible, horrible, horrible," she said. The Small
Animal Rescue Society of B.C. is part of a coalition of other animal welfare associations and rescue groups called Paws for Hope. In an earlier interview with the NOW, the founder of Paws for Hope said she was losing hope that the City of Burnaby would ever take action against the sale of animals in pet stores.
Hutcheon agreed, saying her group had put in a request to make a presentation
to council concerning a ban on retail sales of puppies, kittens, rabbits, and other small animals.
In 2012, the Burnabybased society rescued 30 rabbits. This year, however, they've already taken in 83, and it's only July, Hutcheon said.
"If (Burnaby) has all these pet stores pumping out the sale of these small animals and the city allows it, the city should have better infrastructure in order to be able to house them when they're no longer wanted," she said.
According to Hutcheon, an influx of
unwanted rabbits appears quite often, usually about six months after Easter or when people want to go on holidays. The SPCA only has room for two or three rabbits, and the
society can't manage the rest of the unwanted pets on its own.
"And if we can't take them, or they don't know about us, what options do (people) have?" she said.
In most of these cases, people dump the unwanted rabbits or other small animals in the forests or parks, thinking they'll be fine in the wild, she added.
Recently, someone did just that near the Warner
Loat dog park near Burnaby Lake, Hutcheon said.
"People had been going into the SPCA reporting some domestic rabbits that had been quite friendly down near Winston and Piper (streets)," she said.
Hutcheon and some society volunteers found the rabbits but were unsuccessful in catching them. A few days later, another society volunteer was in the area when, Hutcheon said, she was approached by a woman who told her she had seen a man and his dog hunting the rabbits.
"She said, 'There's a fellow here with a German short-haired pointer,' and he let his dog get up close to the rabbits, and he let the dog go after the rabbits and basically, the dog got the rabbit, killed the one, and (the man) threw it in the back of his car and took it," she said.
The next day, another group of volunteers from the society went back to the dog park and trapped the surviving rabbit. The rabbit will remain in foster care until a suitable home can be found for the small animal, she added.
Hutcheon is hoping someone will recognize this man - driving a green Jeep
- and his German shorthaired pointer and report his licence plate number to the rescue group so that it can make an official report to police. If anyone has information on this man, email [email protected].
For now, however, Hutcheon and her team
of volunteers at the rescue will continue to press the city to ban the sale of small animals in pet stores.
"The sale has got to stop
... all the local rescues, all the shelters are full. There's plenty of places (to adopt)," she said.
