AR-News: California - The Rabbits Need Your Help Again

Sat Apr 24 00:14:46 EDT 2004

From: ASPCA Advocacy Center 
Sent: Friday, April 23, 2004 9:55 PM
Subject: California - The Rabbits Need Your Help Again!

           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.  This bill was amended in Committee and now, if passed, 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. 

            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. 

            Click here to TAKE ACTION NOW and send a letter to the members of the Water, Parks, and Wildlife Committee urging them to oppose AB 2875.  

            Please attend the hearing at the Capitol in Sacramento on April 27th if you are able to do so.  The hearing is scheduled to be held in Room 437 at 9:00 am.  However, the room is subject to change, so please contact Nicole Paquette at the Animal Protection Institute if you have any questions. She can be reached at npaquette at api4animals.org (or 916-447-3085, ext. 214).

            THANK YOU FOR SPEAKING OUT FOR THE ANIMALS!

            Sincerely,

            Jill Buckley, Esq.
            Legislative Liaison, Western Region
            National Shelter Outreach

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