1,000 rabbits removed from backyard Henderson, NV (US) Incident Date: Tuesday, Feb 28, 2006 County: Clark Local Map: available Disposition: Not Charged Person of Interest: Jackie Decker

Case ID: 7859 Classification: Hoarding Animal: rabbit (pet) View more cases in NV (US) Login to Watch this Case

An animal rescue group is trying to find homes for about 1,000 rabbits removed from a Reno backyard in what its leaders are calling one of the biggest such rescues ever. What began as a woman's effort to help them turned into a situation where the rabbits were exposed to overcrowding, uncontrolled breeding, fighting and health problems, said Michael Mountain, president of Kanab, Utah-based Best Friends Animal Society.

The rabbits were taken last week from the woman's semi-rural home to a temporary rescue center at a Lemmon Valley ranch north of Reno, where they are getting medical care, and being spayed and neutered. "When you have 1,000 rabbits in a backyard less than an acre in size and one person looking after them, they can't be all that well treated," Mountain told The Associated Press. "I wouldn't call this abuse, but it's certainly a situation of considerable neglect ... These poor creatures desperately need help on a massive, rapid scale," Mountain said, adding he's unaware of any larger such rescues of rabbits.

It's the second largest rescue operation in the 14-year history of Best Friends, which has 300,000 members worldwide. Its largest rescue involved 7,000 animals along the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina. The rabbits were segregated by sex at the ranch to avoid further breeding.

The animals not always received adequate food and water, Mountain said, and some have required medical attention. Best Friends hopes to save the rabbits and find them homes across the country. It's trying to encourage the public to adopt them.

Jackie Decker, who housed the rabbits, did not immediately return a phone call. She told the Reno Gazette-Journal that she contacted the Utah group for help after she became ill. "I wouldn't be letting them go if I wasn't in bad health," Decker told the newspaper. "For 28 years, I rescued rabbits. I've been opening my gate, trying to save their lives."

In 2002, Washoe County animal control officers removed more than 500 rabbits from her property and euthanized most of them. The officers later sought to return to the property, but a judge denied their request. County ordinances limit the number of dogs and cats people can keep, but not the number of rabbits. An undetermined number of female rabbits and their babies remain in burrows outside Decker's home and cannot be removed until they surface sometime over the next couple of weeks. Best Friends also has issued a plea to veterinarians for help in spaying and neutering the rabbits.

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References

Las Vegas Sun - March 25, 2006

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