UPDATE: A spokesperson for the state agency which oversees Desert Willow Treatment Center said the agency is staying vigilant to make sure bunnies on their property aren't being poisoned.
Karla Delgado with the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services tells 13 Action News, deputy administrators are unaware of who might have been responsible for potentially harming bunnies last week.
"The Deputies will continue to investigate and will be vigilant to make sure that the bunnies are not being poisoned and to ensure staff isn’t involved," Delgado said in an email.
ORIGINAL STORY:
A group of people who rescue abandoned bunnies fears someone might be harming a booming bunny colony near Charleston and Jones.
For years, the wide-open fields near Desert Willow Treatment Center have become a dump site for people looking to abandon their pet bunnies.
"They think, 'Oh! I have this pet that I just don't want anymore; I should dump my pet out here. It will live a good life in the grass with the other bunny friends,'" said Tina Dawn who helps feed the abandoned bunnies.
Dawn said the bunnies are left to fend for themselves, seeking refuge from threats like the heat and cars. Now, she and other activists fear another threat might be looming.
"Someone was putting something down, the bunnies were eating it, and kind of falling over and putting them in trash bags," said Stacey Taylor who also rescues bunnies.
Taylor said recently she caught wind of two separate occasions in which people reported potential mistreatment of bunnies.
At this point, the groups are investigating whether the harm was intentional or whether poison was, in fact, involved.
"If we find any ones that are dead or injured or look to be poisoned, we're going to take them in and have them tested so we have the proof that we need," Taylor said.
13 Action News reached out to the administration of Desert Willows Treatment Center for more information but did not receive a callback.
Those rescuing the bunnies hope people will do extra research before considering purchasing the animals as a pet.
