PETA Complaint Leads Law-Enforcement Officers to Seize Animals From Bunny Magic 'Rescue' After Sick, Dying Rabbits Found in Cramped, Filthy Cages
For Immediate Release:
August 8, 2012
Contact:
Shakira Croce 202-483-7382
Prince Frederick, Md. -- Today, Calvert County law-enforcement officials are removing sick and injured rabbits from Bunny Magic Wildlife & Rabbit Rescue Inc., in Lusby, Md., after reviewing a complaint filed by PETA. Following a whistleblower report, PETA had entered the facility and found systemic and sometimes fatal neglect of animals there, including rabbits kept in crowded, stacked cages in their own waste in a garage reeking of ammonia and a dark shed. Photos are available here.
After receiving the whistleblower's request for help, PETA documented that rabbits were being denied veterinary care for serious medical conditions, including a rabbit with a long-term infection that had filled his throat with pus. Another rabbit was so afflicted by disease that her neck was twisted nearly 180 degrees, leaving her struggling to stand. Bunny Magic operator Carole Van Wie simply left the rabbit to die. PETA submitted evidence to county officials and the office of State's Attorney Laura Martin, which opened a criminal investigation.
"Well-meaning people often do not see what goes on in these kinds of 'too-good-to-be-true' places, and many of these facilities turn out to be hoarders' lairs," says PETA Senior Vice President Daphna Nachminovitch. "PETA urges everyone to speak up when they see animal abuse and neglect: If not for a whistleblower, these rabbits would still be lying there, helpless and dying. We thank law enforcement and the state's attorney for taking action."
PETA also found that Bunny Magic had no paid help to care for all the rabbits, whose basic care would require more than 35 hours of labor daily, according to professional standards. Some of the rabbits were found with abscesses, one as large as an egg; head tilt because of likely infection, disease, and/or trauma; painfully overgrown nails; and eyes sealed shut by discharge. Dead rabbits were found crammed into a freezer.
PETA is also submitting formal complaints to various Maryland officials as well as to the Internal Revenue Service that request that Van Wie be investigated.
For more information, please visit PETA.org.