Animal rights group bombards Windsor council's inbox

The Association for Protection of Fur Bearing Animals has taken to flooding Windsor city council with emails demanding an end to the city's policy of trapping and killing skunks.

Coun. Fulvio Valentinis says his inbox has been inundated.

"At one point i received 20-25 an hour. It started late in the afternoon. I'm not sure what triggered it," Valentinis said.

In March 2012, council approved spending $80,000 a year on a skunk removal program, that most likely will see the majority of the animals killed.

In a current email message, members and supporters of the Association for Protection of Fur Bearing Animals say the program is cruel.

It argues the problem isn't the skunks; it's the people who leave their garbage out that attracts the skunks.

Association for Protection of Fur Bearing Animals says council should consider other cost-effective, sustainable and humane options. Some councillors are ignoring the emails.

Coun. Al Maghnieh, though, is trying to respond to them:

"We're not going to halt our program because [they are] not happy with it," he said. "If they really don't want this to happen, if they really want to protect the skunks, they're more than welcome to come and take them for themselves."

When budget discussions begin in two months, council is expected to debate whether to continue with the program next year.

"While their occasional odour may annoy some people, skunks are a vital to our ecosystem, keeping insect and rodent populations in check," the letter to council says. "Trapping and killing skunks and other wildlife is cruel, unnecessary, and will ultimately prove ineffective. Skunks are meek, non-aggressive animals who are harmless to humans."