ssues & ideas EDITOR JAKE COSTELLO THE VOICE, THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 2016 7 aster: unscrambling the eggs, myths With spring officially here, some celebrate the holidays, some just eat the chocolate Saba — aime = KATE RICHARDSON photo Olga Betts holds William the white bunny. She said white bunnies like him are iconic at Easter, and some people try to rent them for family egg hunts. Bunnies need love after Easter Is over, says SPCA Each year SPCA warns about bunnies abandoned post-holiday; pet shop says it’s a myth By LINDA NGUYEN space. HARES IN hollywood 1 Thumper, Bambi, 1942 2 Roger Rabbit, Who Framed Roger Rab- bit, 1988 3 Frank, Donnie Darko, 2001 Source: imdb.com ith Easter around the cor- ner, pet activists say fami- lies might want to reconsid- er getting a bunny for the holiday. Each year the SPCA warns people that too many unwanted rabbits are turned over to shelters or released into the wild after Easter. Some say, howev- er, that idea is a media myth. Ryan Voutilainen, manager of the BC SPCA Burnaby branch said they do not have enough resources to keep the ani- mals for long periods due to a lack of “They’re all placed up for adoption. If we don’t have room in the shelter, we reach out to other rescue organizations or put them into foster homes,” Vouti- lainen said. “The average rabbit stays in our fa- cilities for typically a couple of months.” Olga Betts, president of Vancouver Rabbit Rescue & Advocacy, said there are seasonal demands for rabbits. “It is a problem and we do try to raise awareness about it. We do get the strange calls sometimes from people who want to rent rabbits to put on their lawn when their kids are looking for Easter eggs. They’re sort of ornaments or something really odd.” Graham White, owner of Noah’s Pet Ark on West Broadway, said people buy rabbits all year around. “People don’t target bunnies at Eas- ter, people look for bunnies all year around. From what I’ve seen after 35 years, that’s kind of an urban news myth,” White said. “We send people up to the rabbit res- cue place if they want a bunny, but we are always trying to make sure that they’re not getting into something be- yond what they’re looking for.” Voutilainen said the problem lies with negligent owners who don’t care for the rabbits after the novelty of Eas- ter wears off. “Some people will care for them for quite some time and some of them for only a couple of months,” Voutilainen said. “[Rabbits] need to see specialized veterinarians and need specialized care.” Betts suggests there are other kinds of rabbits people can buy. “Tf you are interested in getting your child a rabbit for Easter, make it a choc- olate one,” Betts said. Cracking into chocolate egg history To some eating chocolate is more important than under- standing Easter’s roots By DANIEL DADI-CANTARINO gious and spiritual reflection, and for others, it’s a time for chocolate eggs. According to chocolate maker Cad- bury’s website, chocolate Easter eggs first emerged as an Easter tradition in Europe during the 19th century. Paul Moores, church life director at Broadway Church in Vancouver, said the mass consumption of chocolate dis- tracts from the religious roots of the holiday. “IT do think that it takes away from the real meaning of Easter, which is Je- sus Christ,” said Moores. Broadway Church still holds an an- nual Easter egg hunt with hidden eggs numbering in the thousands. Luke Januszczak, an 18-year-old F:: some, Easter is a time of reli- computer science student at Langara College, was raised a Catholic but said his fondest Easter memories are asso- ciated with chocolate. “(My] family always does an Easter egg hunt thing, my family always buys chocolate, even now my mom is like ‘Do you still want chocolate this Easter?’ and I’m like ‘Please!”” said Januszczak. Januszezak was unaware of choco- late’s historical ties to Easter. “T still don’t really get the connec- tion,” said Januszezak. For Greg Hook, owner and head chocolatier at Chocolate Arts in Kitsi- lano, the historical connection doesn’t matter as much as chocolate sales. Hook, who began Chocolate Arts more than 24 years ago, has noticed an increase in his Easter chocolate sales over the years. “People are a lot more cognizant of what they put in their mouths, so even if they’re buying for children they can buy a bunch of garbage or they can buy quality. We’ve noticed an increase be- cause we sell quality,” said Hook. DANIEL DADI-CANTARINO photos Greg Hook has been making chocolates for almost a quarter of a century. The only two non- secular statutory holidays in B.C. are Christian, but the law protects other reli- gions daysis BRIAN KUROKAWA photo David Urist of Langara’s Hillel Jewish student group is dressed up for Purim, a holiday in March. By BRIAN KUROKAWA only non-secular statutory holi- days in B.C., however, legal ex- perts say that there are protections in place for people who celebrate non- Christian holidays. According to British Columbia’s Hu- man Rights Code, an employer cannot discriminate against an employee be- cause of “ancestry, place of origin, po- litical belief [or] religion.” Richard Johnson, an employment lawyer with Kent Employment Law, said if an employee can “[tie the day GC: Friday and Christmas are the off] to a religious ground or an ances- tral ground, or something to do with their place of origin,” the employer will in most cases grant the time off. An exception to these protections would be if coordinating an alternate arrangement for the shift causes exces- sive troubles for the employer. “Tf there’s nobody, absolutely nobody that can work the shift, or if it’s impos- sible for them to make that accommo- dation, then they don’t have to [by] law,” said Johnson. Coordinating alternate arrange- ments for non-statutory holidays can also cause issues with work and school. Sam Scott began celebrating Norouz, Persian New Year, when his wife intro- duced him to it three years ago. “For the Persian community it’s by far the biggest holiday,” said Scott. The count down for the new year takes place during the exact moment of the spring equinox, when days start to get longer. “Last year, I think Shabnam, my wife, she and few of her Persian co- workers sort of gathered around some- body’s computer in the middle of the day and listened to Internet radio as the countdown happened, and celebrat- ed together. And, of course, scurried back to their desks to keep working. So I think it’s a bit of a muted celebration if you can’t be with family and friends.” David Urist, president of Langara College’s Hillel Jewish Student Associ- ation, had a similar experience when a midterm fell on Rosh Hashanah, a Jew- ish holiday. “T will say that most people are very accepting of it. They are very flexible when it comes to respecting people’s ({holidays],” said Urist.