Plans to gas Welshpool rabbits ‘inhumane’
Thursday 21st October 2010, 6:00PM BST.
A proposal to gas hundreds of rabbits in a Mid Wales town has been branded inhumane by animal rights campaigners.
Welshpool Town Council said it was considering the move after months of failed attempts to restrict the numbers of rabbits damaging Maesydre playing fields.
The proposal has been submitted to Welshpool Town Council by its leisure and recreation committee and will be debated at its next full meeting on Wednesday.
But campaigners, contacted by concerned residents, have called for a stay of execution to consider alternatives and said they are monitoring the issue closely.
Fiona Pereira, of Animal Aid, said: “There is nothing humane about gassing massive numbers of animals to death. The amount of damage caused by rabbits is the result of those animals living their lives
“Is that really such a huge crime that they have to pay with their lives?
“One way to reduce rabbit numbers is to stop slaughtering animals that rely on them for food: foxes, stoats, weasels and mink.”
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Please please don’t kill the rabbits.
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sell the carcasses to pedigree petfoods or the local butchers and the proceeds can used to offset council services.
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What is the matter with these people. Gassing is not inhumane, they inhale the gas, go to sleep, and don’t wake up. Job done.
Rabbits are, and always have been, pests. They cause damage to crops and land in no small measure if there is a decent colony of them, and it sounds as though Welshpool has just that.
Also it would be amusing if these animal aid people would put forward their suggestions for Their “alternatives”. Shooting??, no chance, one bang, and the result is no bunnies. Maybe a posse of vets with syringes loaded with lethal serum?, oh no, they might hurt them giving them the injection,,,if they could catch them. The list goes on.
Find a worthwhile cause to support and find your 5 minutes of fame there.
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Which came first, the rabbit or the sports field?
I think the only acceptable alternative to gassing, is to do nothing, and let the rabbits get on with it.
What exactly are these measures that the council has tried? I suspect that it’s a sign (in two languages of course) that say “Rabbits keep off”, (the wording of which was probably debated for some months at council meetings)
But more importantly, since when was Welshpool in Shropshire? So why do we even care?
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Save the bunnies,its so nice to watch them hopping about at dusk.
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