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ANIMALS

Sweden imports foreign trash

Sweden does not generate enough rubbish and 600,000 tonnes of foreign refuse were imported in 2010 to meet demand from district heating plants.

Sweden imports foreign trash

The majority of the imported waste comes from neighbouring Norway, reported the Göteborgs-Posten daily.

Sävenäs district heating plant in Gothenburg accounted for 160,000 tonnes of the refuse imported in 2010.

Several of Sweden’s facilities are fuelled with rubbish from overseas and supplies will have to increase as new plants are opened to meet the heating needs of Swedish households.

The Local reported in October 2009 that the bodies of thousands of rabbits culled every year from the parks in Stockholm’s Kungsholmen neighbourhood were being used to fuel a heating plant in central Sweden.

Thousands of animals are culled annually in order to protect the city’s trees and shrubbery and instead of simply disposing of the dead rabbits, they were placed in the deep freeze and transported to Karlskoga and burned in a bioenergy plant.

The move caused consternation among some animal rights groups who argued that the killing of the animals was being turned into “an industry”.

District heating is a common form of energy production for heating the homes of urban Swedes. It is a large-scale method for producing heat which is then transported through a network of pipes to consumers in apartment blocks, business premises or private homes.

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PARIS

Fluffy nuisance: Outcry as Paris sends Invalides rabbits into exile

Efforts to relocate wild rabbits that are a common sight on the lawns of the historic Invalides memorial complex have provoked criticism from animal rights groups.

Fluffy nuisance: Outcry as Paris sends Invalides rabbits into exile

Tourists and Parisians have long been accustomed to the sight of wild rabbits frolicking around the lawns of Les Invalides, one of the French capital’s great landmarks.

But efforts are underway to relocate the fluffy animals, accused of damaging the gardens and drains around the giant edifice that houses Napoleon’s tomb, authorities said.

Police said that several dozen bunnies had been captured since late January and relocated to the private estate of Breau in the Seine-et-Marne region outside Paris, a move that has prompted an outcry from animal rights activists.

“Two operations have taken place since 25 January,” the police prefecture told AFP.

“Twenty-four healthy rabbits were captured on each occasion and released after vaccination” in Seine-et-Marne, the prefecture said.

Six more operations are scheduled to take place in the coming weeks.

Around 300 wild rabbits live around Les Invalides, according to estimates.

“The overpopulation on the site is leading to deteriorating living conditions and health risks,” the prefecture said.

Authorities estimate the cost of restoring the site, which has been damaged by the proliferation of underground galleries and the deterioration of gardens, pipes and flora, at €366,000.

Animal rights groups denounced the operation.

The Paris Animaux Zoopolis group said the rabbits were being subjected to “intense stress” or could be killed “under the guise of relocation”.

“A number of rabbits will die during capture and potentially during transport,” said the group, accusing authorities of being “opaque” about their methods.

The animal rights group also noted that Breau was home to the headquarters of the Seine-et-Marne hunting federation.

The police prefecture insisted that the animals would not be hunted.

In 2021, authorities classified the rabbits living in Paris as a nuisance but the order was reversed following an outcry from animal groups who have been pushing for a peaceful cohabitation with the animals.

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