Bunny killer fights jail term

  A BALLARAT teenager who strangled a pet rabbit in front of at least 11 terrified witnesses in broad daylight was yesterday sentenced to a year in jail, after a magistrate rejected his claim he had performed a mercy killing.
But father-of-one Tai Sharp, 18, walked free from Ballarat Magistrates Court on bail after lodging an appeal against the severity of the sentence.
The court heard that at the Little Bridge Street bus stop on the afternoon of November 3 last year, Sharp took the rabbit from a teenage female friend, stomped on its head, wrung its neck and pelted it twice against the bus stop window, before shouting, “I can kill the f***ing rabbit” and “how do you like that, I can do it again” and throwing the dead pet to the ground.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Bob Anderson said at least three children – the youngest six years old – witnessed the killing.
Sharp pleaded guilty to charges of public nuisance,
dishonestly undertaking in the retention of stolen goods and theft.
Sergeant Anderson called on magistrate Michelle Hodgson to jail him, a suggestion that drew gasps from Sharp’s many supporters seated in the body of the court.
“Your honour, this is a despicable act, it takes place in a busy Ballarat street on a weekday afternoon,” Sergeant Anderson said.
“The court needs to send a strong message of its abhorrence of this behaviour. People cannot commit these type of offences.”

Read the full article here.

Croydon woman fined over sick rabbit

A CROYDON woman who failed to take her sick rabbit to a vet has been fined and barred from owning another pet for two years.

Liwen Hang failed to appear in Burwood Local Court when the matter was dealt with last Tuesday, but was convicted and fined in her absence, after an RSPCA inspector gave evidence that the sick female rabbit was found in a dirty cage last year.

The inspector immediately took it to a vet.

The rabbit’s body was described as being thin and it was given treatment for a suspected pasteurella infection.

After a two-week course of treatment the rabbit’s symptoms improved and her body weight increased 29 per cent.

Following a court hearing, Ms Hang was convicted and fined $800.

ANIMAL CRUELTY
* Liwen Hang, of Croydon, was fined last week after failing to provide her rabbit with veterinary treatment
* She received an $800 fine, and was ordered to pay $79 court costs, more than $71 transcription costs and more than $500 vet and boarding costs
* Ms Hang is now prohibited from owning an animal for the next two 

Found on the Inner West Courier website.

Rabbits hop on to the menu on Melbourne's top restaurants

GOURMANDS are gnawing their way through Victoria's thriving rabbit population as city restaurants carve up thousands of the fluffy pests every week.

Rabbit suppliers are struggling to meet demand from Melbourne's top chefs turning humble underground mutton into top-dollar dishes.

As lamb and beef prices skyrocket and diners become more adventurous with game meats, rabbit is suddenly hot property at less than $10/kg.

And there's no shortage of wild bunnies in country Victoria. Hunters say the population has doubled since last year.

Maybe it comes down to Chinese astrology - 2011 is the year of the white rabbit.

But Peter "Rabbit" Golden says it all comes down to good rain, mild weather and loads of feed. It was a good week for the central Victorian hunter, who nabbed 3000 wild rabbits.

"There was a time when rabbit was poor man's tucker, but not any more," he said. "People can't get enough of them, but then lamb's pretty dear."

Read more.

Mars chocolates torture rabbits and other animals

Kids' rabbit-fur fashion branded harebrained

A FASHION house has provoked controversy by dressing children as young as five in furs for this year's winter collection.

Bonpoint, the luxury French children's label, in its catalogue dresses little girls in rabbit-fur coats and adorns them with fur purses and brooches made from rabbit skin.

Animal rights campaigners have accused the couture house, which entertained US first lady Michelle Obama and her two daughters at its Paris headquarters during Barack Obama's first visit to France as President in 2009, of courting controversy to get publicity.

Bonpoint is offering a baby's rabbit-fur gilet for $184, while a rabbit-fur coat for a six-year-old will cost $333.

Animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals claims 70 million rabbits are killed for fur in France each year.

"This is a provocative way of getting attention," said Mimi Bekhechi, manager of Peta Europe. "The rabbit fur is not a by-product of the meat trade. These animals are bred for their fur and kept crammed together in tiny cages."

RELATED COVERAGE

• Fur flies in SeoulThe Australian, 16 May 2011
• Test shows 'dog' vest is rabbitHerald Sun, 13 May 2011
• Stores 'stock clothes made from dog'Perth Now, 12 May 2011
• Buying child's love with $900 jacketHerald Sun, 18 Mar 2011
• Fur protesters join the in-crowdThe Australian, 10 Mar 2011

The group has posted a video on YouTube taken inside a fur farm in which live rabbits are shown strung up by their legs on conveyor belts on their way to be skinned.

Andrew Tyler, director of Britain's Animal Aid, said: "It's a pretty perverted marketing strategy to induce young children to drape themselves in the product of extreme cruelty but we expect nothing better from fur advocates."

Bonpoint was unavailable for comment. The label is favoured by Suri Cruise, daughter of Hollywood couple Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, who at five has been ranked No 21 in a magazine poll to find the most stylish women in the world.

from The Sunday Times