瑞典首都斯德哥尔摩围捕了数千只野兔，并将它们的尸体焚烧来为当地居民供暖。此举引起动物权利组织的强烈不满，表示这样的做法很不人道。这些被焚烧的兔子有些是斯德哥尔摩公园为保护林木而捕杀的，还有很多是被主人弃养的宠物兔子。去年有6000只兔子被捕杀，它们的尸体冷冻后被送到瑞典中部的卡尔斯库加市的供热厂作燃料以帮助居民供暖。

The city of Stockholm shoots thousands of wild rabbits spread across the green spaces of the Swedish capital and sends their bodies to be burned as heating fuel.

The city of Stockholm shoots thousands of wild rabbits spread across the green spaces of the Swedish capital and sends their bodies to be burned as heating fuel, a practice which has enraged¹ animal rights groups.

The rabbits going up in smoke are the inhabitants of Stockholm's parks who are culled² to protect the shrubs³ and trees on which they gorge⁴. But many of them are tame domestic pets turned loose by owners who no longer want them.

Six thousand bunnies were killed last year. The corpses⁵ were frozen and then sent to a special heating plant at Karlskoga, in central Sweden, where the cadavers⁶ were burnt in order to help heat the homes of residents of Värmland.

"One should put this in the perspective that we (humans) are actually cremated⁷ ourselves and that generates a completely different reaction," Freij said in response to criticism.

Animal Rights Sweden spokeswoman Lise-Lott Alsenius questioned whether the practice was humane⁸ or ethical⁹ and suggested neutering the male rabbits as an alternative method of holding down the population.

"One at least has to evaluate what the alternatives are to just simply shooting them," she said.

Konvex, the company handling the operation, said the rabbits were ground up with the cadavers of other beasts, mainly farm animals such as cows which have been deemed unfit for human consumption, reduced to flammable form and incinerated.

"Just as with us people ... the bodies contain a lot of fat and fat has exactly the same energy content as normal heating oil for instance," Konvex Chief Executive Leo Virta said.