Rabbit rescuer to tell Anchorage Assembly no agency acted after pet rabbits were shot

A rabbit rescuer has asked to speak to the Anchorage Assembly on Tuesday about two pet rabbits that were shot in South Anchorage on Sept. 26.

One rabbit was killed. The other was paralyzed and had to be put down 24 hours later, Tania Krawchenko wrote in her appearance request.

Police said the weapon was a .22, she wrote. She wrote that animal control did nothing and that Alaska State Troopers said they don't do rabbits.

Krawchenko wants to talk to the Assembly about domestic rabbit rescue, animal control's response and what she calls a lack of the right funding for animal welfare. Her request doesn't name a dollar amount or ask the Assembly to take a specific action.

She wrote that she has rescued, spayed and neutered rabbits for 15 years, and that people don't know how to rescue rabbits, which she says puts their fragile lives at risk.

Anchorage Animal Care and Control is the city's open-admission shelter for domestic animals and enforces the city's animal code, according to its website. It rents out traps for community cats and rabbits.

A nine-member Animal Control Advisory Board, appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the Assembly, advises the mayor and Assembly on animal control and meets monthly.

Rabbits have also come before Homer's City Council, which has been weighing an ordinance that would let residents live-trap feral rabbits on their own property. Homer's animal shelter said it can't take most of them, Alaska News reported Oct. 12.