Big rabbit kill, but warnings remain

The rabbit-killing virus RHD has this year in Otago taken its biggest toll on the animal in at least five years.

Its effectiveness during the past summer has puzzled the industry because the Otago Regional Council's two-yearly tests for the disease's presence in Otago show high levels of immunity to the virus.

Test results show the average immunity across the 10 sites was 68%, similar to 2009 levels, council regional services technical field adviser Don Robson says in a report to be presented to its regulatory committee tomorrow.

"Interpreting this year's serum results has been difficult, with most monitoring sites showing high immunity levels, yet the virus has been the most effective and widespread for many years."

The virus displayed its greatest activity in the Alexandra basin, Ida Valley, Upper Clutha and Strath Taieri.

"In fact, most of Otago appears to have received the benefits of good kills from the virus."

As well as good death rates, observations showed deaths due to the virus continued to occur longer than normal, which meant the antibodies were still present during testing - unlike in other years.

"This observation clearly indicates high immunity levels do not necessarily mean the virus is no longer effective.""Exceptional" conditions in Central Otago had seen grass growth throughout most of summer because of frequent rain, which meant more young rabbits survived, he said. It also meant more flies, which were thought to be an important vector of the virus.

Full article here.

Wildlife refuge no more for pests

Helicopters have worked through sub-Antarctic winter weather to twice saturate the 13,000-hectare wildlife refuge with poison baits targeted at rabbits, rats and mice. Now dogs are mopping up remnants.

The $25 million federal-state project had to overcome setbacks including abandonment of its first round of bait-laying flights last winter, and the unintended poisoning of hundreds of seabirds. Now rewards are flowing as grasses and other flora sprout through the cold.

Read more 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.

Deadly Rabbit Disease May Have Doomed Iberian Lynx

The 1988 arrival of viral hemorrhagic disease (VHD) in Spain devastated that country's European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) population and, in the process, possibly doomed the local species most adapted to hunt rabbit, the Iberian lynx(Lynx pardinus).

The wildcat is now critically endangered, with an estimated 100 to 200 animals remaining in the wild. That makes them the world's most endangered feline species. The species numbered 4,000 animals in 1960.

One of the few areas where Iberian lynx still reside is Spain's Doñana National Park. According to research published in the March 2011 issue of Basic and Applied Ecology, the lynx was the only predator in the park not able to adapt to eating other prey when the rabbit population crashed.


Read full article.

Animal rights group 'behind bomb attack' on Lincolnshire farm

ANIMAL rights activists have claimed responsibility for a fire bomb attack on a Lincolnshire rabbit farm.

Highgate Farm, which breeds rabbits for vivisection, was targeted last Thursday when activists threw a petrol bomb at the home of Geoff Douglas.

1. ​
   WE DID IT: Animal rights activists have claimed responsibility for an attack on Highgate Farm.

Luckily, it did not take hold and left minimal damage. But a second device hit a Mercedes van parked nearby which gutted the interior. It happened in the early hours of the morning while Mr Douglas and his wife slept.

It was the latest in a string of attacks on the farm in Normanby-by-Spital, near Market Rasen.

Yesterday, an e-mail was sent to the Echo, which contained details of the attack and threats to Mr Douglas and his property.

It came via animal rights magazine Bites Back, based in Palm Beach, Florida, in the US. It said: "Activists had made sure that the posh conservatory off the main building was unoccupied and with the loud alarm system that was triggered by our arrival it meant that there was no chance of any harm being done to the Douglas family even though their large house and large gardens have been paid for out of the blood money of the thousands of rabbits and ferrets they have sent off to torture labs.

"The remaining one delivery van used to drive animals to their deaths was put out of action. We will continue to watch you and you will never know when we will strike next. Rest assured, while you profit from this disgusting genocide, we will be there to make you experience just a tiny amount of the fear that you help to cause to those innocent, beautiful creatures.

"We will target you in your comfortable home, remember when you look out each evening, it could be tonight we'll return.

"It is time to retire from the animal abuse industry and give up the animals for rehoming, we will not be patient anymore. We will get more serious, we promise to make it our goal to stop you once and for all, don't make the mistake of under-estimating us, we will not back down. Until the next visit."

The message was signed "Provisional RSPCA", but it is thought the name is false.

Lincolnshire Police spokesman James Newall said: "We are aware of this internet posting and it is informing our on-going inquiry. We are still appealing for witnesses. Anyone who may have information, we would urge to come forward."

From here.

Baiting Complete for Macquarie Island Pest Eradication

“It is fantastic to see that this first stage is now complete and that our efforts to restore Macquarie Island to an ecosystem free of introduced pests is well underway.”

 

The number of non-target species impacted by baiting has been minimised, with a total of 855 birds affected to date.  The introduction of Rabbit Haemorrhagic Disease Virus on the island earlier this year drastically cut rabbit numbers which resulted in fewer carcasses on the ground and a reduction in secondary poisoning among non-target species.

 

Another key factor in reducing non-target species mortality has been an increased effort by specially dedicated ground crews collecting and burying poisoned carcasses after baiting.

 

Mr Wightman said that while the impact on non-target species was unfortunate, if the pests continued to cause damage it was likely that some seabirds and unique plant species would no longer exist on the island.

 

“This short-term impact will be balanced out by the long-term protection to the island’s ecosystems achieved through the pest eradication.”

 

The team involved in the baiting operation is expected to return to Hobart in late July.

 

Twelve trained hunting dogs are already on the island ready to begin the next phase of the operation, hunting down the rabbits that survived the baiting project.  Hunters will work with the dogs and their handlers to dispatch any rabbits found. This is expected to take up to five years.

Read full article here.

Mars chocolates torture rabbits and other animals

Hostilities resumed in Wyndham's rabbit war

ALTHOUGH floods and mosquitoes have helped keep rabbit numbers down in Wyndham recently, seasonal baiting has begun.

Wyndham Council’s autumn rabbit-control program is in full swing with dog owners advised not to walk their dogs in some areas for the next month.

Baits of chopped carrot, treated with the poison, pindone, are being laid by a licensed contractor in Point Cook, Werribee, Werribee South and Mt Cottrell.

Vitamin K1 is the antidote for pindone, an anti-coagulant poison available from local vets notified of the baiting.

The council has warned residents not to handle carrot pieces or rabbits found in baited areas.

Warning signs were to be placed at all reserve entrances.

Council chief executive officer Kerry Thompson said rabbit populations had fallen in Wyndham due to recent floods and the subsequent increase in mosquitoes, which transmit myxomatosis - lethal to rabbits.

But the council was still required under state legislation to keep rabbit populations under control, she said, hence the continuation of the council’s rabbit eradication program.

“If not controlled, a single pair of rabbits can breed to more than 184 individuals in just 18 months,” she said.

Areas being baited until this Friday are the northern side of Skeleton Creek, between Boardwalk Blvd and Palmers Rd, and Alamanda Wetland Reserve, Point Cook; both sides of the Werribee River from Chirnside Park to the Maltby Bypass, Werribee; Grahams Reserve and K Rd Cliffs, Werribee South; and Cobbledicks Reserve, Mt Cottrell.

For more information, go to wyndham.vic.gov.au

Sourced from Wyndham Leader.

Diggers Rest squatter claims property was a dumping ground for unwanted pets

Nathan Miles from the Western Suburbs Animal Rescue Service holding a rescued rabbit. PICTURE: Dennis Manktelow.

A WOMAN accused of squatting at a filthy Diggers Rest home before leaving behind 53 unwanted pets says she was not responsible for the squalor.

She says other people used the property as a dumping ground for animals and the house was vandalised after she left.

Animal rescue volunteers recovered 30 cats, six dogs, 15 guinea pigs, a goose and a rabbit from the derelict property after the woman and her two teenage children moved out.

It is believed more than 100 animals were housed on the property at one stage.

The woman has now contacted Leader to say reports that she was living in squalor with her two children were false.

Read the rest of the story here.

Peter Rabbit on the hunt

VETERAN rabbit shooter Peter Golden says the lure of the bunny gets in your blood and just won't go away, writes SARAH HUDSON

They call him Peter Rabbit.

And not because he bears any resemblance to the children's book character.

While his parents may have christened him Peter Golden, to the folk around central Victoria he's simply Peter Rabbit.

What else do you call one of the state's oldest continual rabbit shooters, one who targets wild rabbits that are on-sold to markets and high-end restaurants?

"They think I come out of a Noddy book or something," Peter says.

"Bob Hart (Herald Sun food critic) came up to the Redesdale Hotel and had rabbit pie. He wrote that the local game supplier was Peter Rabbit.

"It's just stuck. Everyone knows me as that now."

Given he's been in the trade for 35 years, Peter's pedigree is a substantial one, having seen major changes in the industry, not least the demand for the product itself.

"Rabbits aren't a poor-man's tucker any more. Restaurants are lapping them up and I'd have no trouble selling more," he says.

Read full story here.

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