This B.C. rescue wants to dispel East Asian stereotypes during the Year of the Rabbit

A Richmond, B.C.-based rabbit rescue group says they're hoping to give back to the East Asian community during the upcoming Year of the Rabbit.

Rabbitatswas formed during the last Year of the Rabbit in 2011. Run by volunteers,it has a sanctuary in South Surrey, and also helpsrun the popular Bunny Cafe on Vancouver's Commercial Drive.

But their founder, Sorelle Saidman, saysthe group is most active in Richmond, where she estimatesup to 2,000 rabbits roam the streets. Rabbitats started out by trapping hundreds of rabbits in Richmond Auto Mall.

Saidman says she hopes the upcoming Year of the Rabbit will be a platform for the charity to honour the community, many of whose membersvolunteer, donate, and adopt bunnies fromRabbitats.

She also hopes to push back against racist stereotypes surrounding rabbits and Asian people.

"One problem that our volunteers have had on occasion is people misconstruing why they're trapping the rabbits," she told CBC News.

"Coming up to our volunteers and accuse them of potentially trapping these rabbits to take them ... to a Chinese restaurant or something.

"[It] has been a longstanding and very hurtful cultural stereotype, and it's just so totally wrong," she said.

One of the ways they want to thank the community is by applying for a grant from the Richmond Community Foundation, she says, to funda project focused on cultural awareness anddispelling stereotypes, for whichthey're currentlylooking for advisors to ensure the project is culturally sensitive.

Still, the rescue has big plans for the Lunar New Year: they are set to host a 10-day long "rabbit education" table at Richmond's Aberdeen Centre from Jan. 13 to 22.

They are also anchoring the Year of the Rabbit celebration at Chinatown's International Village Mall from Jan. 21 to 22.

"We're going to have, I'd say, 50 rabbits on hand," Saidman said.

"People will be able to come into a Bunny Hut that we're building in the rotunda there, and learn all about bunnies.

"We're celebrating the Year of the Rabbit and we're celebrating the rabbits themselves."

The Chinese calendar follows a 12-year cycle that is repeated over and over again. Each of the 12 years is represented by an animal.

Sherman Tai, a fortune teller and astrologer based in Richmond, says this year will likely be a good year for change in B.C.

"This is not superstition and this is nothing relating with the religious," he told Stephen Quinn, host of CBC's The Early Edition.

"This is only the statistics which we used for thousands of years, based on yin and yang."

WATCH | A tour through Richmond's Aberdeen Mall during the festival:

A tour through Richmond's Aberdeen Centre as Lunar New Year approaches

2 years ago

Duration 1:37

Manager Tiffany Ho leads a tour of the vendors at Aberdeen Mall ahead of Lunar New Year celebrations the first since pandemic measures ended.

Rabbits not good in urban areas

Saidman says feral and wild rabbits in the Lower Mainland do not thrive in urban areas, despite what people may think.

"The reality is they just breed faster than they're killed," she said. "It is a dangerous place for them and they really don't have great survival skills."

Rabbitats saysthey have seen a spike in unwanted and abandoned animals over the past few months, as well as signs that bunnies were making inroads in municipalities across the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island.

The organization is currently raising funds to move into a farm in Langley that would allow them to house more than 500 rabbits.