Feral rabbit problem growing at Richmond Auto Mall

Arabbit problem is multiplying at the Richmond Auto Mall, and a local animal welfare group is trying to find homes for the bunnies before the province steps in.

An estimated 400 rabbits nibble daily on the grass-covered areas of several auto dealerships off Westminster Highway at Jacombs Road,at the eastern edge of the woodedRichmond Nature Park.

Thebunnies started appearing three years ago, and have sincebecome an attraction for customers and their children.

But Gail Terry, speaking for the RichmondAuto Mall, says the dealership association wants the animalsgone.

"We want to do the right thing and get them to a place that is much safer for them to live than [it] is here, amongst this traffic and asphalt," Terry said.

But people can't simply show up and take a bunny home.

The provincial government says that as soon as a pet rabbit is let loose, itbecomes wildlife and falls under provincial jurisdiction.

The province encourages that feral rabits be trappped and put them down, rather than re-homing them.

Sorelle Saidman, speaking for Rabbitats Canada, said the animal welfare group is trying to raise $60,000 with the intention of opening a rabbit sanctuaryin the LowerMainland.

Saidman said the problem in Richmond is similar to that at the University of Victoria a couple of years ago, where over a thousand bunnies had the run of the campus, and were set to be culled.

Rabbitats helped send hundreds of those rabbitsto sanctuaries in the U.S., but Saidman said it needs an alternative.

"It's not Texas' problem, it's not Washington state's problem,it's our problem," she said. "And it's not fair that we are not dealing with our problem."

The Richmond rabbit colony,like the one that plagued the University of Victoria, began with abandoned pets.

Two years ago, Richmond's city council banned pet storesfrom selling rabbits, but that hasn't stopped people from dropping them off nearthe Auto Mall.