PETA Offers Gbp 1,000 Reward To Nab Person Who Hacked Off Rabbit’S Ears

For Immediate Release:
15 June 2010

Contact:
Alice Barnett 020 7367 9229, ext 229; [email protected]

Workington, Cumbria – Animal protection charity PETA is offering a £1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the mutilation of a rabbit in Salterbeck, Workington; the group is also sending free humane-education packs to area schools. According to news reports, 10-year-old Charice White returned home from a school trip to find that someone had apparently cut the ears off her rabbit, Thumper, leaving only bloody stumps. Thumper also suffered what appeared to be a cigarette burn on his forehead.

Workington residents have good reason to be concerned about animal abuse cases such as this. History shows that serial rapists and murderers often have backgrounds which include incidents involving cruelty to animals. Child-killers Mary Bell, Robert Thompson and Jon Venables as well as murderers Ian Huntley, Thomas Hamilton (Dunblane massacre), Fred West, Dennis Nilsen, Ian Brady and Jeffrey Dahmer all started on their paths to violence by deliberately harming animals. Raoul Moat, the gunman responsible for shooting his ex-girlfriend and killing her new partner and later himself, also reportedly had a history of abusing animals.

“It is imperative that any community faced with such horrific animal abuse take measures to find the culprit or culprits and stop the violence”, says PETA’s education manager, Suzanne Barnard. “Life in a hutch is no life at all – rabbits suffer when they are left alone and are vulnerable to attacks by animal abusers. The best way to safeguard animal companions is to bring them indoors.”

PETA’s educational materials are designed to help children of all ages recognise the importance of compassion and empathy for all beings, serving as a preventive measure against cruelty to animals later in life. Copies of the school mailings are available upon request.

Anyone with information about this case is encouraged to call the Cumbria Constabulary on 0845 330 0247.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.uk.