Mr.Marshmallow
Member
Every morning before school, Barney the rabbit could expect a little treat and a bit of loving attention.
But when his owner, 13-year-old Kiera Bailey, came downstairs to make her daily check on him, the schoolgirl received a dreadful surprise.
Instead of her beloved pet - bought nine years ago after a bad experience at school - there was an empty hutch and a threatening note, apparently from animal rights extremists.
Heartbroken Harry and Kiera Bailey show the hutch where they kept their pet rabbit, Barney. The bunny was released by an animal rights activist
Kiera and Harry's beloved pet rabbit, Harry, who was released by a protester
It read: 'This is animal cruelty. Rabbits should not be left in hutches, they should be out in the wild and socialising.'
Now Barney is feared to have been let out into local countryside - where rabbit experts say he would be unlikely to survive more than a few days, at the mercy of foxes and other hazards.
As police launched an investigation into his disappearance, Kiera's furious father demanded that whoever took him brought him back.
'My children are heartbroken, I've had nothing but tears,' said Oliver Bailey, 38. '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 just heartbroken to be accused of animal cruelty to a pet rabbit we love dearly.'
Mr Bailey said he thought someone must have seen Barney's hutch in the back garden of their home in Darwen, Lancashire as it is close to woodland.
The white and grey rabbit was there on Thursday evening, but on Friday morning there was nothing but straw.
The sneering, handwritten note was inside a clear plastic folder, weighted down by a stone.
On the other side it read: 'Rabbits are social animals, they should not be left alone in a hutch with no interaction.
'This rabbit has also got no exercise! This is cruelty to animals.'
A neighbour has reported seeing an unfamiliar car stop outside the house at about 3.15am.
The note left by a cruel animal rights activist who released the children's pet
Mr Bailey, who has informed police, said: 'It must be a nutter. But if they let him out into the woods he will die because he's tame.'
Barney - who has lived almost twice as long as the average domestic rabbit - was bought to cheer Kiera up after she hurt her eye while in reception class.
Mr Bailey, who also has a ten-year-old son, Harry, said: 'My kids are asking me: "Why would someone do this to us when we love him so much?"'
'They've been crying non-stop and are absolutely horrified to think that somebody has taken him.
'They love the rabbit and play with him every day. He is taken to the vets regularly and gets the best possible treatment.
'He's older than the average rabbit - that's one of the reasons he can't survive in the wild. It's tame, so I don't know what they think they were doing.
'It may seem silly because it's a rabbit, but you really get attached after nine years.
'Especially the children - they've been caring for it as long as they can remember.
'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.'
And he added: '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 were put up in the local pub and Mr Bailey has asked neighbours to keep watch.
Gillian Webb-Bailey, president of the British Rabbit Council, said: 'This is terrible.
Domesticated rabbits just don't have the survival skills to live in the wild - he'd be attacked and killed within days.
'Unfortunately there are a lot of fanatics out there who don't understand what happy, well-cared for creatures most pet rabbits are.'
A spokesman for Lancashire Police confirmed they had received a report of a stolen rabbit and a note about 'animal cruelty'.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1294014/Deluded-animal-rights-protestor-lets-childrens-pet-rabbit-loose.html#ixzz0u4g8I0D8
read this news story and i was shocked. really scary to any rabbits owners out there.
But when his owner, 13-year-old Kiera Bailey, came downstairs to make her daily check on him, the schoolgirl received a dreadful surprise.
Instead of her beloved pet - bought nine years ago after a bad experience at school - there was an empty hutch and a threatening note, apparently from animal rights extremists.
Heartbroken Harry and Kiera Bailey show the hutch where they kept their pet rabbit, Barney. The bunny was released by an animal rights activist
Kiera and Harry's beloved pet rabbit, Harry, who was released by a protester
It read: 'This is animal cruelty. Rabbits should not be left in hutches, they should be out in the wild and socialising.'
Now Barney is feared to have been let out into local countryside - where rabbit experts say he would be unlikely to survive more than a few days, at the mercy of foxes and other hazards.
As police launched an investigation into his disappearance, Kiera's furious father demanded that whoever took him brought him back.
'My children are heartbroken, I've had nothing but tears,' said Oliver Bailey, 38. '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 just heartbroken to be accused of animal cruelty to a pet rabbit we love dearly.'
Mr Bailey said he thought someone must have seen Barney's hutch in the back garden of their home in Darwen, Lancashire as it is close to woodland.
The white and grey rabbit was there on Thursday evening, but on Friday morning there was nothing but straw.
The sneering, handwritten note was inside a clear plastic folder, weighted down by a stone.
On the other side it read: 'Rabbits are social animals, they should not be left alone in a hutch with no interaction.
'This rabbit has also got no exercise! This is cruelty to animals.'
A neighbour has reported seeing an unfamiliar car stop outside the house at about 3.15am.
The note left by a cruel animal rights activist who released the children's pet
Mr Bailey, who has informed police, said: 'It must be a nutter. But if they let him out into the woods he will die because he's tame.'
Barney - who has lived almost twice as long as the average domestic rabbit - was bought to cheer Kiera up after she hurt her eye while in reception class.
Mr Bailey, who also has a ten-year-old son, Harry, said: 'My kids are asking me: "Why would someone do this to us when we love him so much?"'
'They've been crying non-stop and are absolutely horrified to think that somebody has taken him.
'They love the rabbit and play with him every day. He is taken to the vets regularly and gets the best possible treatment.
'He's older than the average rabbit - that's one of the reasons he can't survive in the wild. It's tame, so I don't know what they think they were doing.
'It may seem silly because it's a rabbit, but you really get attached after nine years.
'Especially the children - they've been caring for it as long as they can remember.
'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.'
And he added: '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 were put up in the local pub and Mr Bailey has asked neighbours to keep watch.
Gillian Webb-Bailey, president of the British Rabbit Council, said: 'This is terrible.
Domesticated rabbits just don't have the survival skills to live in the wild - he'd be attacked and killed within days.
'Unfortunately there are a lot of fanatics out there who don't understand what happy, well-cared for creatures most pet rabbits are.'
A spokesman for Lancashire Police confirmed they had received a report of a stolen rabbit and a note about 'animal cruelty'.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1294014/Deluded-animal-rights-protestor-lets-childrens-pet-rabbit-loose.html#ixzz0u4g8I0D8
read this news story and i was shocked. really scary to any rabbits owners out there.
I hope he is found.
