AR-News: California’s Rabbits AGAIN Need Your Help!!!

Mon Apr 19 21:13:27 EDT 2004

>California’s Rabbits AGAIN Need Your Help!!!
>
>Another bill - AB 2875 which will allow the killing of cottontail rabbits 
>injuring ornamental shrubbery - has been introduced by Assembly Member 
>John Benoit.  Letters, calls, and emails are needed NOW to help defeat 
>this bill and preserve current law. This bill will be heard before the 
>Assembly Water, Parks and Wildlife Committee on April 27thth at 9:00 am.
>
>You will recall that an identical bill, SB 1434, was introduced by Senator 
>Ackerman and was heard before the Senate Natural Resources Committee on 
>April 13th and passed out of Committee.  This bill was amended in the 
>Committee and now will allow persons to kill cottontail rabbits out of 
>season pursuant to a depredation permit issued by the Department of Fish 
>and Game.  We will keep you posted on the Senate bill over the next couple 
>of months.
>
>Current law defines cottontail rabbits as “small game mammals” and 
>prescribes various killing methods for these animals during the hunting 
>and trapping seasons. This bill would allow the taking of cottontail 
>rabbits at any time of year when damage to landscaping or ornamental 
>shrubbery is being experienced on one’s property.
>
>This issue is primarily a localized issue centering on gated communities 
>in Orange County, California. Any issues that these homeowners 
>associations claim to be experiencing should be raised with the local 
>municipality and not at the state level. Requesting that the state get 
>involved in this very localized issue is a waste of time and money for the 
>legislature.
>
>Up until April 2003, the method of choice to kill these rabbits by gated 
>communities was a poison called Diphacinone. Diphacinone, an 
>anticoagulant, causes internal bleeding and blood-thinning - resulting in 
>a prolonged death that could take up to 3 days. Section 311 is quite 
>specific on the methods of take; the methods prohibited, and are species 
>specific.  However, no where in the regulation or in the code does it 
>state that poison is a legal method of take for rabbits.
>
>Interactions between humans and animals have increased throughout the 
>recent years, due largely to human population growth and suburban sprawl. 
>Historically, the "solution" has been to kill the animals regardless of 
>the degree of threat they present to humans or property. There are humane 
>ways to live peaceably with rabbits that do not require lethal means. 
>Killing rabbits through the use of poisons, traps, and other lethal 
>devices is simply cruel, inhumane, and unnecessary considering that viable 
>alternatives exist.
>
>Animals are attracted to human dwellings for two reasons - food and 
>shelter. Rabbits feed on certain types of ornamental shrubbery such as 
>long leafy plants and vegetables. There are a series of non-lethal 
>solutions that can be used to avoid damage to ornamental shrubbery caused 
>by cottontail rabbits.  Non-lethal remedies can be as simple as putting up 
>a well constructed fence, using landscape plants that rabbits don't like 
>to eat, using natural spray repellents that rabbits find distasteful, or 
>scare devices. While these non-lethal solutions will likely reduce but not 
>entirely eliminate the problems, the same is true of lethal methods to 
>reduce damage. However, by altering human behavior by planting plants and 
>shrubs that do not attract rabbits will go a long way in eliminating 
>future damage caused by these benevolent animals.
>
>We are asking you to do three things to help fight the pending bill:
>
>1. Please contact your Assembly Member - write, call or email her/him 
>TODAY and urge that s/he oppose AB 2875.  Suggestions on what to say are 
>provided below. Please copy your letter to Jeff Volberg, committee analyst 
>(mailed letters preferred): 1020 N Street, Room 160, Sacramento, CA 95814, 
>916-319-2196 fax, email: jeff.volberg at asm.ca.gov.
>
>2. Please attend the hearing at the Capitol in Sacramento on April 
>27th.  The hearing will be held in Room 437 at 9:00 am (the room number is 
>subject to change, so please let us know if you plan on attending!).
>
>3. We also need letters, faxes, calls, and emails to the Assembly Water, 
>Parks, and Wildlife Committee urging them to oppose AB 2875. If you cannot 
>write to all of them, at least send a letter to the Chair of the 
>Committee, Assembly Member Joe Canciamilla. If your Assembly Member is on 
>the Committee it is even more important that you write and state that you 
>live in his or her district.   The names and contact information for the 
>Committee members are listed below.
>
>If you do not know who your Assembly Member is, go to 
><http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/>http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/ . At the bottom of 
>the page, click on Your Legislature. Enter your zip code and press 
>“search” and you will be given the name and contact information of your 
>Assemblyperson (in the lower half of the page).  Or you can call the 
>Government Information Hotline at (916) 322-9900 and give the operator 
>your address -- the operator will tell you who your Assemblyperson is 
>and/or you can leave your message for him/her through the operator.
>
>Please address your letter(s) to :
>The Honorable [full name of Assembly Member]
>California State Assembly
>State Capitol
>Sacramento, CA  95814
>
>For more information, contact Nicole Paquette at npaquette at api4animals.org 
>(or 916-447-3085, ext. 214).
>
>THANK YOU FOR SPEAKING OUT FOR THE ANIMALS!
>
>
>Assembly Water, Parks, and Wildlife Committee Members (note - there now 
>are only 16 members):
>Assembly Member Joe Canciamilla, (Chair)
>916-319-2011;  916-319-2111 fax
>Assemblymember.Canciamilla at assembly.ca.gov
>
>Assembly Member Tim Leslie (Vice Chair)
>916-319-2004;  916-319-2104 fax
>Assemblymember.Leslie at assembly.ca.gov
>
>Assembly Member Patty Berg
>916-319-2001;  916-319-2101 fax
>
>Assembly Member Rudy Bermudez (author of AB 1312)
>916-319-2056;  916-319-2156 fax
>Assemblymember.bermudez at assembly.ca.gov
>
>Assembly Member Lynn Daucher
>916-319-2072;  916-319-2172 fax
>Assemblymember.Daucher at assembly.ca.gov
>
>Assembly Member Dario Frommer
>916-319-2043;  916-319-2143 fax
>Assemblymember.Frommer at assembly.ca.gov
>
>Assembly Member Jackie Goldberg
>916-319-2045;  916-319-2145 fax
><mailto:Assemblymember.Goldberg at assembly.ca.gov>Assemblymember.Goldberg at assembly.ca.gov
>
>Assembly Member Shirley Horton
>916-319-2078;  916-319-2178 fax
><mailto:Assemblymember.Shirley.Horton at assembly.ca.gov>Assemblymember.Shirley.Horton at assembly.ca.gov
>
>Assembly Member Rick Keene
>916-319-2003;  916-319-2103 fax
>Assemblymember.keene at assembly.ca.gov
>
>Assembly Member Christine Kehoe
>916-319-2076;  916-319-2176 fax
>Assemblymember.Kehoe at assembly.ca.gov
>
>Assembly Member Alan Lowenthal
>916-319-2054;  916-319-2154 fax
>Alan.Lowenthal at assembly.ca.gov
>
>Assembly Member Barbara Matthews
>916-319-2017;  916-319-2117 fax
>
>Assembly Member Nicole Parra
>916-319-2030;  916-319-2130 fax
>Assemblymember.Parra at assembly.ca.gov
>
>Assembly Member Fran Pavley
>916-319-2041;  916-319-2141 fax
>Assemblymember.Pavley at assembly.ca.gov
>
>Assembly Member Todd Spitzer
>916-319-2071;  916-319-2171 fax
>Assemblymember.spitzer at assembly.ca.gov
>
>Assembly Member Lois Wolk
>916-319-2008;  916-319-2108 fax
>Assemblymember.wolk at assembly.ca.gov
>
>
>Some additional points you may want to make:
>•     Interactions between humans and animals have increased throughout 
>the recent years, due largely to human population growth and suburban 
>sprawl. Historically, the "solution" has been to kill the animals 
>regardless of the degree of threat they present to humans or property. 
>There are humane ways to live peaceably with rabbits that do not require 
>lethal means.
>•     Killing rabbits through the use of poisons, traps, and other lethal 
>devices is simply cruel, inhumane, and unnecessary considering that viable 
>alternatives exist. Some of the alternatives include fencing, the use of 
>repellants, and being selective in the plants one uses around their property.
>•     This bill is a localized issue and should be handled at the 
>municipal level and not at the state house.
>•     The Fish and Game Commission is currently addressing alternative 
>means for Orange County residents to handle cottontail rabbits injuring 
>ornamental shrubbery. The administrative process is the appropriate venue 
>for this issue and not before the legislature.
>
>
>Below is suggested general wording for your comments, letter, or e-mail:
>         I urge you to oppose AB 2875, a bill that will allow the 
> wholesale killing of rabbits, at any time of year if they are damaging 
> ornamental shrubbery such as roses, Easter lily’s, and pansies. There are 
> humane ways to live peaceably with rabbits that do not require lethal 
> means. Killing rabbits through the use of poisons, traps, and other 
> lethal devices is simply cruel, inhumane, and unnecessary considering 
> that viable alternatives exist. Furthermore, this is a localized issue 
> and should be handled at the municipal level and not at the state house. 
> Thank you for your consideration on this very important issue.
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