Rescue calls for ban on sale of small animals in Winnipeg pet stores

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A local pet rescue is calling on Winnipeg City Council to enact a bylaw to ban the sale of small animals such as rabbits, guinea pigs and hamsters in Winnipeg pet stores.

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According to volunteer James Southwell, people are sold the small animals as “starter pets” or “beginner animals” without a proper understanding of what is required to look after them and then try to surrender them weeks later. Unfortunately, rescue organizations don’t have the space to take them in.

“There’s a tsunami of people thinking one thing, being sold these animals and they find out otherwise,” said Southwell, a volunteer with Popcorns & Binkies Rescue Haven which called on City Council to ban the sale of the animals. “It really hurts the rescues because a large proportion of (owners) they try to surrender but the rescues are full and we see this tragic outcome of a lot of dumped animals that we get called to try to rescue but we just don’t have the space.”

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Currently, the City of Winnipeg allows the sale of small animals in pet stores who get them from breeders, leading to an increasing overpopulation of these animals in the city.

Often referred to as “pocket pets”, small animals are seen – and sold – as a ‘beginner animal’ in pet stores, said Popcorns & Binkies Rescue Haven in a press release. In reality, small animals require highly specialized care and, as prey animals who hide illness and injuries, owners have to be vigilant in monitoring for any changes.

Inevitably, weeks after their purchase, they are dumped outside when families realize that these living creatures need continuous care. This puts a tremendous strain on rescue organizations, who are already over-capacity.

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“We call (Easter) bunny dumping season,” said Southwell. “It’s almost like clockwork about six weeks after Easter we just get massive calls of people trying to relinquish or calls about abandoned rabbits out on the street. It’s a cyclical thing. Of course with Winnipeg it’s tragic when around Christmas you start seeing the same thing and they really can’t survive in the cold.”

In its release, the rescue said that volunteers who visited major pet stores in Winnipeg were directed to cages that were far too small and recommended equipment that could lead to serious injury to the animals.

“Over the last month, our volunteers have sent us very concerning images from local big chain pet stores of inhumane living conditions for these small animals,” said Cindy Hildebrand, Popcorns & Binkies’ Founder and Director. “They are often being kept in cages that are far too small for them, not well maintained, and provided with toys that are dangerous. If this is how they treat them in the store, how can you expect their advice to be beneficial to the animals?”

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In Selkirk, there’s a colony of around 40 domestic rabbits and the rescue keeps getting messages that they’re getting hit by cars and being preyed on by predators because they don’t know how to survive in the outdoors.

“Our hands are tied” said Southwell. “There’s just no space for them so it’s really tragic yet we see more and more being sold when there’s all these rabbits out there needing help.”

Popcorns & Binkies Rescue Haven is also asking the community to help advocate the importance to their city councillors to institute the ban.

According to a spokesperson from the City of Winnipeg, City Council approved changes to the Responsible Pet Ownership bylaw in 2022 following public consultations. At present, there are no bans on the sale of small animals such as guinea pigs, hamsters, rabbits, etc. in Winnipeg.

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The Responsible Pet Ownership bylaw’s Schedule A does however include a list of prohibited animals, the spokesperson said.

“The Winnipeg Humane Society (WHS) opposes the breeding of pets solely for profit and without proper regard for the health and safety of the animals,” a WHS spokesperson said in a statement. “For most people, this conjures up images of large-scale puppy mills, but this includes breeders of all kinds of animals who seek financial gain over the well-being of the individual animals.

“Eliminating or reducing the sale of small animals and exotics in pet stores would no longer feed these operations that work on a supply and demand model. It also would reduce the strain on shelters and rescues that are already at capacity with all kinds of companion animals”

In 2021, the WHS was consulted as a stakeholder on banning exotic pets and the number of those allowed in each household during the City’s review of the Responsible Pet Ownership bylaw. The rejection of these recommendations by Council has led to continued overpopulation and decreased welfare for animals in Winnipeg, the spokesperson said.

glen.dawkins@kleinmedia.ca

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