Rabbit bodies 'used as heating fuel' in Sweden
By Allan Hall
Swedish people have discovered a grim new way of culling nuisance wild rabbits - by burning them in their thousands to heat their homes.
Animal rights activists have launched a furious attack against the practice, claiming that domestic pets are also being rounded up, shot and incinerated.
Anna Johannesson, from the Society for the Protection of Wild Rabbits, said: 'Those who support the culling of rabbits think it's good to use the bodies for a good cause.
Stockholm shoots thousands of rabbits and uses them to heat their homes
Cull: Last year six thousand rabbits were shot in Stockholm and their carcasses used to heat people's homes (file picture)
'But it feels like the power company is trying to turn the animals into an industry rather than look at the main problem.'
The targeted rabbits are the unwanted inhabitants of capital Stockholm's parks, which are culled to protect the shrubs and trees which they gorge on.
Many of them are domestic pets released by uncaring owners which then go on to breed.
Six thousand were killed last year, frozen and their cadavers sent to a special heating plant in Karlskoga, central Sweden.
Animal rights activists are calling for alternative solutions to reducing the population.
Mrs Johannesson told newspaper Vårt Kungsholmen: 'We want to see them start looking at other solutions for the rabbits.
'Helsinki in Finland sprays the plants to make them unappetising and they have also set up a system of shelters for animals to be donated to.
'They have come much further along than us.'
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