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Crime & Safety

After Pet Rabbit Disappears, Owner Receives Threatening Letters

Charges of animal abuse levied by anonymous writers because animal was kept outside in cold weather.

A man called Jan. 20 when he discovered the pet rabbit he kept in an enclosure just outside of his home on the 200 block of East Willow Road was missing.

The man kept his white Netherland dwarf rabbit, that has a blue tattoo on one of its ears, in an elevated cage, just outside his home. He found the door to the hutch open and the rabbit gone. Police did not see any suspicious footprints around the cage when they went to investigate.

An officer spoke with a neighbor who had previously called police and stated her concern about the rabbit. She told police she thought it was abusive to the animal to leave it outside in cold weather. After inspecting the rabbit's enclosure, police determined the animal was not being abused. Police searched the woman's home, but did not find any sign of the rabbit and determined her to not have it.

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On Jan. 24 the rabbit's owner received two letters in his mailbox, signed by people listing themselves as “concerned residents.” They said that they felt keeping the rabbit outside is cruel.

One letter stated, “I would think that people of average to above average intellect are aware that sub-zero temperatures to a domestic rabbit is not only deadly, but cruel. This kind of behavior is usually found in the inner city amongst the uneducated populated.”

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The letter also mentions it's impossible to provide water in cold temps, but police found that the rabbit's owner has a heated water bowl, so this was not a problem. Another letter ends with, “It is only a matter of time before you will be forced to surrender, or you will be burying a helpless animal. It is your choice.”

Fox Point Police are investigating.

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