Delta's attempt to deal with the rabbits around municipal hall and the Ladner Leisure Centre is going according to plan.
Earlier this year, the municipality launched a $60,000 program to capture, sterilize, tag and relocate the estimated 500 rabbits that had come to call the municipal precinct home.
This week, George Harvie, Delta's chief administrative officer, said the program is going well and should be winding down within the next few weeks.
He said Delta Community Animal Shelter staff and volunteers have already relocated about 200 rabbits to Ladner Harbour Park.
At the outset, shelter manager Sarah Lowe said the goal of the program is to humanely capture between 20 and 25 rabbits per week for about five months.
Local veterinary clinics are supportive of the program, she said, and offered to spay and neuter the rabbits at a reduced cost.
Once sterilized, the rabbits will recover at the shelter before being relocated to Ladner Harbour Park, which was previously home to many feral rabbits.
Many will also be available for adoption at no charge. So far five have been adopted.
Shelter staff and volunteers will provide ongoing care and monitoring of the rabbits once relocated.
The plan also includes a public education component to discourage people from abandoning rabbits, which is considered animal cruelty in the Criminal Code, and the introduction of a bylaw restricting the sale of unsterilized rabbits in pet stores.
Harvie said municipal hall is also trying to get the message out that people should not feed the rabbits that are left around municipal hall. Food left over from people coming to feed the rabbits has led to an increase in the number of rodents in the area.
