Family's pet rabbits attacked -- again
One of two hares found dead was missing its head

Times Colonist
Published: Monday, December 26, 2005

VICTORIA -- A family of pet rabbits at a Gordon Head home have been attacked and mutilated by vandals for the second time in three months.

Two rabbits belonging to a family with five kids in a quiet residential neighbourhood were found killed on Christmas Eve, said Saanich Police.

One of the rabbits had been beaten. The other was beheaded. Police have yet to find the rabbit's head.

Four other rabbits from the same family were stolen in late September from a back-yard pen. At the time, the animals were only a month old. One of the children later found a pair of rabbit ears.

"Obviously it's some kind of revenge action," family father Poman So told CH News. "I can see no other reason."

There is an often disturbing history of violence against rabbits in Victoria.

The last three high-profile incidents were at the campus of the University of Victoria, where the animals live in abundance among the students, buildings and shrubbery.

Three men were caught on a surveillance camera hanging a dead rabbit outside a health-food restaurant at UVic in mid-March. Graffiti attacking vegetarians was also found painted near the rabbit carcass.

A man and a woman were caught shooting rabbits at UVic with a bow and arrow in 2004. One rabbit was found with an arrow through its ears. The pair were not charged because police felt they were shooting the rabbits for food. The couple was fined $100 instead.

A UVic student pleaded guilty to punching and killing a rabbit while drunk, also in 2004.
© The Vancouver Province 2005