From: Jacque Olson
Sent: Wednesday, June 02, 2010 10:16 AM
To: 'dturpin@uvic.ca'
Cc: 'savetheuvicbunnies@yahoo.com'; Donna Prindle
Subject: Domesticated Rabbits
Sent: Wednesday, June 02, 2010 10:16 AM
To: 'dturpin@uvic.ca'
Cc: 'savetheuvicbunnies@yahoo.com'; Donna Prindle
Subject: Domesticated Rabbits
Hello President Turpin,
I am writing in regards to the situation your
university is
facing with the population of domesticated breed rabbits and how we,
here at
Long Beach City College in California, have dealt with a similar
situation.
Our college is succeeding in humanly
controlling/removing
the 300 + rabbits that have been abandoned, or have procreated for
generations
on campus. None of our rabbits are of a “wild” breed, but are
domesticated pets. Having rescued the campus rabbits for over 10 years I
have come to find that they are even more devoted to their humans than
cats or
dogs, have as much, if not more personality and are as smart as any
other pet,
so it is amazing to me why people continually abandon them.
A year ago our college formed a Rabbit Population
Management
Task Force to address the rabbit population. Several
volunteers organized and coordinated contacts with Best Friends Animal
Sanctuary in Kanab, Utah, Western University School of Veterinarian
Medicine in
Pomona, CA and Bunny Bunch Rabbit Rescue in Monrovia, CA.
In March of this year we rounded up 100 rabbits to
have a
mass spay and neuter event. Eighty rabbits were fixed in two days
with the help of Western University who came on campus with four full
time vets
and 12 student vet volunteers. Eleven of the rabbits gave birth to 47
babies before the vets arrived. Out of this first bunch of
rabbits we were able to adopt out 109 rabbits and bunnies. We
just had a second round up on May 25th and 26th
and out
of this second bunch (while waiting for the vets to arrive) , only one
female
gave birth. We consider this a huge success, and have seen in a very
short time how our system is working.
The response from the media and press to our humane
approach
has been nothing short of stupendous. We were written up and were
on the front page of the Wall Street Journal (Vol. CCLV No 77), we were
on Good
Morning America on Easter Sunday, we have received huge accolades from
Best
Friends Animal Sanctuary who is nationally known for their humane
support and
rescue of animals around the world. The approach we have adopted has
brought such positive attention to our college, in a time when there is
so much
stress from budget cuts and layoffs, that it is the one bright spot in
our
favor.
I hope that your university will think twice about
“culling”
the rabbits who are there at no fault of their own. I understand
that there is a group of people at your university who are willing to
organize
and deal with the situation in a more humane way and I have to say that
this
avenue allows all of us to sleep better knowing that we have tried to
make a difference in a positive way.
Sincerely,
Jacque Olson
Academic
Administrative
Assistant
School of
Physical
Education & Athletics
Long Beach City
College
4901 E. Carson
Street
Long Beach, CA 90808
(562) 938-4370
FAX (562) 938-4875
jolson@lbcc.edu
