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farmers union asking for myxi outbreak.

rabshan

Mama Doe
I have just read in todays Mail that the farmers union are asking for another myxi outbreak to help control the ever growing (so they say) wild rabbit population which has expanded due to warmer winters recently :( :( it is claimed that they have ruined crops & decimated fields (maybe so) but what about the danger of it spreading to OUR pets & the risk which we all live with of this terrible man made epidemic :( its already BAD but if reintroduced will it be another strain that there is no vaccine for :( how can we protect out babies??
 
God i hope they dont get the go ahead ,i had heard that someone has made a new version of the disease .Its bad enough now as u know to many of your costs that myxi has already mutated and the injections are now not very viable. Brining in a new one will desimate the pet rabbit population if it gets out. :cry: val
 
That's a good point Estelle, and if we object to killing foxes int his country, why would it be ok to kill rabbits? I appreciate that they can be a nuisance to farmers, and I can understand that some may shoot rabbits to keep the population down. However, I cannot comprehend a chemical solution to the problem. we live in the countryside, so I think I'd have to stop keeping rabbits if this is the case.
 
I would of thought that the wild rabbit population would have already been controlled judging by the amount of VHD outbreaks up and down the country :( is there anyway that this can be lobbied Shan :?: for the sake of pet rabbits
 
Yeah, can we lobby anyone do you think? I for one would be writing, emailing, faxing, phoning whoever is thinking of doing this! How could they? Have they NO consideration for us and our rabbits?

AMETHYST
 
this is absolutely awful, there have been loads of outbreaks lately
and i agree with the fox point u have made
i knew strain would also put our own bunnies in danger
also it annnoys me when gardeners and farmers blame all crop damage on rabbits they arent the only culprits who will eat crops, there are loads of caterpillars this year to and aphids etc

lisa

lisa
 
Oh thats terrible! I'm going to the vets on Tuesday to get one of my buns vaccinated, I'll write a note to put in her vaccination card so I remember to ask the vet about it, their practice is large and small animals so they visit farms etc too.

HS said:
That's a good point Estelle, and if we object to killing foxes int his country, why would it be ok to kill rabbits?

I was watching a program yesterday about fishing. These people who owned lakes where people paid to fish were being 'overrun' by a type of bird (can't remember the name) who ate most of the fish and left the fishers with not many fish to catch. The birds are not abundant at all, I think they said they are near enough an endangered species but someone has given people the permission to shoot some birds so people can continue fishing. They asked the question if people aren't allowed to shoot foxes who are in abundance, why can they shoot these birds whose numbers are few? Some messed up council or government or whoever decided on it. I just don't get it.
 
where i work is surounded by feilds,for as long as ive been there there have been hundreds of wild rabbits,untill this year,ive only seen about four rabbits and all of them had myxi,we took them to be pts it was very sad to see :(
Now outside the building where i work there is one baby bunny,he looks about 6 months old now,i love watching him he looks so cute!
So it just proves how devestating this horrible myxi can be its wiped a whole coluney of bunnies out :(
 
neeshkabeesh said:
I was watching a program yesterday about fishing. These people who owned lakes where people paid to fish were being 'overrun' by a type of bird (can't remember the name) who ate most of the fish and left the fishers with not many fish to catch. The birds are not abundant at all, I think they said they are near enough an endangered species but someone has given people the permission to shoot some birds so people can continue fishing. They asked the question if people aren't allowed to shoot foxes who are in abundance, why can they shoot these birds whose numbers are few? Some messed up council or government or whoever decided on it. I just don't get it.

Yeah, that's cormorants. Cormorants are a sea bird, but some have moved inland as fish stocks in the sea have been depleted. They have increased inland quite a lot in recent years, but there are still far fewer than there should be (and they should be in the sea, which shows how bad things have got out there!!). The fact that they want to cull 3000 of them is simply ludicrous. I hate things like this - blaming animals for doing what they do to survive so that we can carry on getting maximum profits from our farming and fishing industries that are already over-subsidised as it is... Sorry! I'm ranting! It just winds me up.

AMETHYST
 
Amethyst said:
neeshkabeesh said:
I was watching a program yesterday about fishing. These people who owned lakes where people paid to fish were being 'overrun' by a type of bird (can't remember the name) who ate most of the fish and left the fishers with not many fish to catch. The birds are not abundant at all, I think they said they are near enough an endangered species but someone has given people the permission to shoot some birds so people can continue fishing. They asked the question if people aren't allowed to shoot foxes who are in abundance, why can they shoot these birds whose numbers are few? Some messed up council or government or whoever decided on it. I just don't get it.

Yeah, that's cormorants. Cormorants are a sea bird, but some have moved inland as fish stocks in the sea have been depleted. They have increased inland quite a lot in recent years, but there are still far fewer than there should be (and they should be in the sea, which shows how bad things have got out there!!). The fact that they want to cull 3000 of them is simply ludicrous. I hate things like this - blaming animals for doing what they do to survive so that we can carry on getting maximum profits from our farming and fishing industries that are already over-subsidised as it is... Sorry! I'm ranting! It just winds me up.

AMETHYST

Yes that was it, I knew I knew the name of the bird I just couldn't remember it. Don't apologise for the rant, I agree totally :x Its always money isn't it.
 
OMG that is so nastiy :evil: . what if the wild rabbits come into contact with pet rabbits, bet they didnt think of that :evil:
 
i dont know what some people are thinking about. i agree that foxes should make a difference eventualy although i dont think it will be enough to satisfy farmers . myxi is a crual inhumane way to kill rabbits and should never have been allowed in the first place. i cant believe they are considering it again.
:evil: we all have to say no :no: and make our voices heard somehow
 
myxi

AGREED :) but will they tell us wether they are planning to do this (initiate another myxi outbreak) or keep us bunny owners (mummies & daddies) in the dark :( I have found that if you say you keep pet rabbits you tend to be treated as a joke :eek: pet bunnies are considered to be childrens pets not for us serious owners who know that they are our companions :shock: :shock: I think that we have to start with the farmers union & then DEFRA :evil: I am sure that they havn,t considered our pets & we must make them aware that we are very much AGAINST this action :evil:
 
i really hope they dont do this i have farms near me and one of them actually keeps rabbits so if they did go ahead with it they would know doubt kill their own rabbits!!!!!

I havent seen wild bunnies near me for a while now, and will we actually be told when they are planning to release this new type of myxi? so we can get our own buns safe?
 
We said to our vets about myxi being put out in the wild and he said it is a virus and can't be done :shock: We are confused how does the disease get out there do they inject certain rabbits with it and then let them do the rest????? How do they get the virus in the first place???? Whatever and however it is done it is a damn nasty thing to do :twisted:
 
Mark said:
We said to our vets about myxi being put out in the wild and he said it is a virus and can't be done :shock: We are confused how does the disease get out there do they inject certain rabbits with it and then let them do the rest????? How do they get the virus in the first place???? Whatever and however it is done it is a damn nasty thing to do :twisted:

Basically in the 50's what farmers did was to take infected rabbits and introduce them into areas heavily populated with wild rabbits. The rabbits dont actually have to be in contact to pass on the disease as it is the creepys on their bodys which transmit the virus, so just by putting an infected rabbit into the area almost guarantees that the population will be infected. This practice (even then) is illeagal, but it hasn't stopped them in the past :( :(

the debate is about removing this ban.
 
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