An Easter bunny's annual attempt to brighten up a dog park has been dashed.
The spring holiday decorations were peeking from trees and shrubs and adorned tables and fences at Vernon's BX Ranch Dog Park two weeks ago.
"Hundreds of Easter eggs and other Easter decorations hung from the trees and fences bringing awe and happiness to us dog walkers," said Barbara Laursen, a regular at the park with her four-legged friend Ozzy.
But by Friday, they were all gone.
"Not a single decoration is left," Laursen said. "Wiped clean."
Knowing how much time and pleasure the dog park's Easter bunny puts into setting up the decorations, Laursen and others are devastated to see it all gone ahead of the holiday.
"Christel (Hirschkorn), a sweet elderly woman, who loves to share Easter joy with all us dog walkers at BX dog park, has spent the last 10 Easters putting her own colourful decorations on display," Laursen said, adding Christel does the same at Christmas.
Laursen estimates Christel, who is in her 80s, spends a minimum two days of work putting them all up and carefully taking them all down to store for the next year.
"A disrespectful and brazen thief or thieves stole every piece that was so thoughtfully placed by Christel. Who would do such a thing? Someone who dislikes Easter? Vandals stealing for the fun of it?"
But this was no vandal. The Regional District of North Okanagan (RDNO) removed the decorations after a dog ate some of them and required medical attention.
"We understand that the decorations were put up to share the love of the holiday, but we cannot allow foreign objects like this in a place where owners trust that their dogs are safe to run and play," said Stacey Raftus, RDNO communications officer.
"It is regrettable that an incident of this nature happened within our park. The BX Ranch Dog Park is a treasured gem within the North Okanagan, and we will continue to remove these items as part of our responsibility to ensure it is a safe place for our community’s pets. We take this incident seriously and hope it is an important reminder to residents that adding decorations, signs, and other foreign items to natural parks and trail areas is not permitted and poses a safety risk to users, their animals, and wildlife."
