Darwen family's pet rabbit set free by protestor (From Lancashire Telegraph)
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Darwen family's pet rabbit set free by protestor
3:30pm Saturday 10th July 2010 in News
A SELF-proclaimed animal cruelty protestor stole a pet rabbit and left the devastated family a note claiming ‘rabbits should be out socialising’.
Oliver Bailey, 38, and his children Kiera, 13, and Harry, 10, woke on Friday morning to discover that Barney the nine-year-old rabbit had been taken from his hutch in the back garden of their Sunnyhurst home in Darwen.
On top of the hutch was an A4 plastic sleeve containing a small, handwritten note, saying: “This is animal cruelty. Rabbits should not be left in hutches, they should be out in the wild and socialising.”
Mr Bailey said the family pet was bought for Kiera when she cut her eye in reception class and wanted a rabbit to make her feel better.
“My children are heartbroken. I’ve had nothing but tears this morning. They are absolutely horrified. They love the rabbit and play with him every day. He is taken to the vets regularly and gets the best possible treatment.
“We are heartbroken to be accused of animal cruelty to a pet rabbit we love dearly.
“My kids are asking me ‘Why would someone do this to us when we love him so much?’."
Mr Bailey had seen Barney in his hutch on Thursday night, but spotted the note from his bedroom window weighted down by a stone.
“It must be a nutter. We live very close to Sunnyhurst Woods and someone must have seen him in our back garden. But if they let him out into the woods he will die because he’s tame.
“If they’ve let him out into the wild it will have the opposite effect of what they have intended. If they’ve still got him we’d really like him back.
“We’ve also got a couple of dogs and goldfish. What would they have us do, put the fish in the reservoir and let the dogs run loose?”
Leaflets appealing for the safe return of the rabbit will be put up in the Sunnyhurst pub and Mr Bailey has asked neighbours to keep watch.
A spokesman for Lancashire Constabulary confirmed they had received a report of a stolen rabbit and a note about ‘animal cruelty’.
Barney is small, white with grey patches. Contact police on 0845 1253545.
Comments(9)
useyourhead
says...
6:44pm Sat 10 Jul 10
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telling a child they are cruel to thier pet when they clearly are not, now thats cruelty!
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it was probably some half-wit that read a leaflet and now proffesses themselves to be an authority on the subject, the note looks like it was written in crayon so that is a dead give-away.
Bevo
says...
9:08pm Sat 10 Jul 10
Michael@ClitheroeSince58
says...
9:11pm Sat 10 Jul 10
Mon
says...
12:44am Sun 11 Jul 10
past it
says...
9:04am Sun 11 Jul 10
Shame on the idiot that let it free to die, but shame on all the people that keep rabbits in very poor conditions, not saying that the Baileys did this but many people do.
ghost of sceptic
says...
6:32pm Sun 11 Jul 10
time.team
says...
11:22am Mon 12 Jul 10
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Even the dictionary does not give worth to the meaning of the word ‘pet‘. What should be remembered is that a ‘pet’ is a living thing which unfortunately is under the control of the human race. A description that sometimes is debatable?
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Obviously the ideal should be that animals live within their own environment but ‘pets’ as such should not be treated as entertainment but rather as a companion and treated as such. Unlike many ‘human’ companions they will be your friend for life - no questions asked!
Bunnlady Ros
says...
1:30pm Thu 15 Jul 10
Whilst I don't approve of theft, I wonder what else there is to this story that led the thief to believe that there was a problem? If Barney was indeed locked inside a hutch for most of the day and had no exercise area, then the owners should most certainly have been educated in proper rabbit care, and I have to agree with the message of the note, though not with the action of stealing Barney.
I'm sure there will be those who will be upset at what I'm saying, but I am looking at this from a rabbit welfare aspect.
This isn't to say that I disagree with rabbits having hutches, but they should be of a big enough size, should have an exercise area and preferably the rabbit should have a bondmate with which to interract as well as a lot of care and attention from (adult!) owners. Children may help, but adults have to take responsibility.
Billypieman says...
4:11pm Sat 10 Jul 10