Suspicious Deaths Of Rabbits In Las Vegas Concerns Rescue Group

LAS VEGAS, NV - When Stacey Taylor arrived at the Division of Child and Family Services facility on W. Charleston Blvd. on Sunday she couldn't imagine what she was about to discover.

Taylor, founder of Bunnies Matter in Vegas Too, was at the facility to feed the large population of rabbits that have been freely living on the property for several years. Caring for the rabbits, who were placed on the property an undetermined number of years ago, was a daily routine. However on Sunday, instead of putting out food for the rabbits, she was collecting their corpses.

Some 50 rabbits, a bird, and a guinea pig were found dead on the property - likely the result of anti-freeze poisoning administered to the animals just days after the Department of Health warned that the growing population might be hazardous. The city of Las Vegas issued a statement, saying Animal Control investigated the incident.

"While the bunnies were not located on city property, Animal Control investigates any reports of animal issues within city limits; it is a misdemeanor to poison or intentionally wound, disable or injure any animal. While no reports were initially filed with Animal Control, based on the complaints we received on social media, our team talked to security and activists and visited the property today to look around. It’s our understanding that the local bunny rescue community has safely removed some of the bunnies. However, sadly, our team did find two dead bunnies today. Animal Control had no involvement in the trapping or relocation of the bunnies nor were they ever contacted asking to investigate complaints about the alleged harm to the bunnies. Our team cares greatly about wildlife and never poisons or otherwise kills animals," the city's statement read.

Taylor has her own ideas. She said there are "too many coincidences" to believe there aren't nefarious undertones at play, especially since their deaths came on the heels of the state voicing concern over the rabbits, she said.

"I, myself, believe it's the state," Taylor said. "They have done this before. It used to happen more frequently and they knew I was out there."

She also said the Department of Health's announcement was a surprise since her organization has been working to fix the very problem the state identified.

"We got concerned when we heard this because we've been trying to work with the state or at least two years, trying to get them to help us," Taylor said.

She said in speaking to employees at the mental health facility, they were never notified by state officials about any possible risk of contracting disease by walking on the grass where the rabbits live.

"Why now? Why is there concern now?" she said.

Taylor said necropsies are being done on two of the rabbits to determine what caused their death. She said about 100 rabbits remain at the facility, out of the 800 to 1,000 that were originally there. The organization has removed roughly 200 rabbits from the site in the last year, Taylor said, but the process is laborious. The organization spays and neuters the animals and also vets shelters across the country, only bringing them to shelters with high adoption rates. Taylor said she's pleaded to the state over the last two years to help offset these costs, which she said can range from $100 to $125 per rabbit.

Taylor said that the deaths were especially upsetting because the group has done a number of successful transports in recent months to safely find the rabbits a new home. More transports, including one on Thursday, were planned.

"It's just really discouraging to our group because this was our goal. We're so close and now they want to remove them, kill them," she said. The group's largest transport, 100 bunnies, leaves on Thursday morning.

A post on the group's Facebook page shows a text message exchange between volunteers that might provide details about the apparent poisoning. The exchange goes as follows:

Person #1: "Just caught a car pulling up & dumping food. Do you know of anyone feeding"

Person #2: "No"

#1: "Should i try to pic it up just in case"

#2: "ya just to be safe"

#2: "thank you"

#1: "It has antifreeze all over it"

#2: "Shut up!"

#1: "Dead setious" (sic)

#2: "Did you get a plate on the car?"

#1: "No i was pulling up from the church side & it left i drove up & seen all the rabbits eating it"

Due to HIPPA laws, Taylor said the group cannot access any surveillance footage captured by the facility that might show someone poisoning the rabbits.

Why are the rabbits there?

It's unclear how long the rabbits have populated the facility or how they got there to begin with.

Karla Delgado of the Department of Health and Human Services said "we have no history of how the rabbits got there." Delgado said she is unaware of employees either caring for or actively opposing the presence of the rabbits at the facility. She said the DHHS concern regarding the matter is to ensure the safety and welfare of the rabbits.

The mental health facility on W. Charleston is the largest of several dumpsites across Las Vegas, Taylor said. She suspects the rabbits were originally brought to the property as a coping mechanism for patients, and over the years it transformed into a dumpsite. Seeing so many rabbits there, she said, may have encouraged other people to abandon unwanted pets at the site.

Going forward, Taylor hopes frustrations with the state's handling of the rabbit problem in Las Vegas will give way to cooperation.

"We have sent emails, we don't want to cause a problem, we don't want to be a problem. We want to help them with their problem," Taylor said. "I know that the rabbits are tearing up the property. But killing them is not the answer. Killing them is animal cruelty."

Warning: The following video may be upsetting to some viewers.

Main image: Screenshot of Bunnies Matter in Vegas Too Facebook