Bunny owners are unhappy a virus soon to be released to kill wild South Australian rabbits will put also their beloved pets at risk
RABBITS creating havoc across many parts of South Australia will soon be lured by fresh carrots and oats before being fed poison-laden treats.
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RABBITS creating havoc across many parts of South Australia will soon be lured by fresh carrots and oats before being fed disease-laden treats.
Bunny owners, however, are not happy, claiming the rollout of the virus will put their beloved pets at risk and are flooding social media with messages of dissent aimed at state agriculture minister Leon Bignell.
New maps by the Commonwealth-funded Invasive Animal CRC show calicivirus-laden baits will be used in 45 regions, including areas from Adelaide through to Victor Harbor and beyond, on the state’s West Coast between Ceduna and Port Lincoln, on the Yorke Peninsula, along the Victorian and South Australian border, and north of Mount Gambier.
The State Government is not releasing the exact details of the baiting sites, but a spokeswoman pointed to the map that also indicates that sites were selected strategically in consultation with rabbit experts from each state.
For the rollout, that is expected to begin at the end of this week, landowners participating in the trial place the baited feed by hand.
According to the Petsmart website, run by the CRC, treated bait is prepared by the application of reconstituted freeze dried RHVD1 K5 (calicivirus) to carrots or oats following several days of pre-feeding (unbaited).
Agriculture minister Leon Bignell has drawn the ire of rabbit lovers across the country for his support for the Federal imitative.
The minister’s Facebook page has been bombarded with comments from dozens of concerned rabbit lovers worried the baits will kill their beloved pets.
Mr Bignell, who has urged rabbit owners to get their pets vaccinated, told the Sunday Mail the baiting was a Federal imitative, but it was necessary.
“Rabbits cause more than $200 million damage to our agriculture sector each year and have placed more than 300 plants and animal species under threat.
“We have to keep the numbers under control,
“I encourage rabbit owners to get their rabbit vaccinated.”