The bodies of thousands of rabbits culled every year from the parks in Stockholm’s Kungsholmen neighbourhood are being used to fuel a heating plant in central Sweden. The decision to use Stockholm’s rabbit cadavers as bioenergy to warm Swedes living in Värmland doesn’t sit well with Stockholm-based animal rights activists.
“Those who support the culling of rabbits surely think it’s good to use the bodies for a good cause. But it feels like they’re trying to turn the animals into an industry rather than look at the main problem,” Anna Johannesson of Vilda kaniners värn (‘Society for the Protection of Wild Rabbits’) told the local Vårt Kungsholmen newspaper.
Every year, the city of Stockholm kills off thousands of rabbits in an effort to protect trees and shrubbery in the city’s extensive network of parks and green space.
According to Tommy Tuvunger with the Stockholm Traffic Office, the agency responsible for controlling the city’s rodent and wild animal population, part of the problem rests with delinquent pet owners who decide to release their rabbits into the city’s parks.
“Many of the released rabbits are tame,” he told the newspaper.
Animal control authorities employ a special rifle to shoot the excess rabbits, with most of the culling taking place at dawn when the animals peek out from their holes.
Expect a quick response from PETA.
little rabby fufu hopping thru the forest..
“Animal control authorities employ a special rifle to shoot the excess rabbits, with most of the culling taking place at dawn when the animals peek out from their holes.”
Kelmer Fjudd and Bjork Bunny?
Why not just ship them to Darfur and give the people rabbit to eat?
i wonder how then can ID them as Swedish?
I say, arm the bunnies, a la Bloom County.
Is a dead body without high fat content any source of fuel? After you pour on the igniter fuel, is there a net gain in energy extracted? Or is this just a way to get rid of the carcasses?
# 5 bobbo, there is little new in the world
There is a little gain in the burning of most garbage. Here in Sweden we burn allmost everything that isn’t recycled. It’s to do away with the need for landfills. What this story says is that the rabbits are treated as other garbage.
Wild rabbits as far north as Stockholm isn’t natural, but the city has the right propetys somehow so the dont die in the winter. They are all offspring to released pets. And they breed like ….
I can’t for the life of me understand what the problem is. So they’re turning dead rabbits into something useful. So what?
#8: This is the Swedish bunny equivalent of PETA, and those people have issues with killing anything, even if it’s an overabundance of rabbits.
Oh they’re so cute until there are hundreds of them eating everything in sight!
We have a serious rabbit problem in Australia, rabbits being an introduced species. Perhaps this a new export opportunity.
Big Kev’s Bunny Burners?
“a special rifle ”
I’d really like to know about the rifle. We have a terrible rabbit problem here. Anyone know about this? Seriously.
I’m with Mr. Diesel, lessen world hunger, mske Rabbit Jerky. Besides, it’s kind of a slippery slope situation to declare burning dead rabbits as a fuel source. How long before they’re doing that with all the dead cats and dogs? The dead homeless people? And then the elderly? Why bury anything, when they can derive energy from it. Do the Nazis one better. Not seriously.
Rabbits are delicious! What a waste!
#13: Probably a custom air rifle. One of our guys at Ft. Carson uses one to kill the rabbits that live around our barracks.
Really, the rabbits are being killed anyways, why not have them produce power instead of consuming it?
I’ll take the one on the far left.