Stolen rabbits returned to Portland Meat Collective

PORTLAND, Ore. – Seventeen rabbits that were stolen last weekend were returned to their rightful owner on Friday afternoon.

On Saturday, an instructor at the Portland Meat Collective reported that a group of rabbits that were being raised for meat had been stolen.

Police said after stealing the rabbits, the thief or thieves brought them to a group called Rabbit Advocates, which works to protect rabbits.

The folks at Rabbit Advocates realized the rabbits in question had been stolen when they were also contacted by someone from the Portland Meat Collective. The people at the collective said they needed help because the thieves left behind 10 nursing babies.

Without a mother to nurse from, those baby rabbits eventually died.

Working with a Portland Police detective, Rabbit Advocates was able to return 17 of the 18 stolen rabbits to the Portland Meat Collective.

One of the rabbits had already been adopted out. According to the collective, the lawyer for the person with the rabbit has contacted the rightful owner to work out its return.

"We appreciate that the Rabbit Advocates were willing to return the animals to their rightful owner," the meat collective wrote in a blog post. "We also appreciate that the Rabbit Advocates members, so far as we can tell, very much took care of the rabbits."

Despite returning the rabbits, members of the advocacy group said they are still trying to convince the meat collective to not slaughter them.  

"If they stay in our care, it will be a good result. If they don't, I don't like to think of what the end result will be for these darling little furry ones," said Mary Huey, the vice president of Rabbit Advocates.

In the meantime, the rabbits will be taken to an undisclosed location.

Farmer Chris Larsen said he does feel somber about killing the rabbits for meat, but feels that by doing the killing the butchering himself, he's being more responsible.

Police have not named any suspects in the case. If you have information on the theft, you can call Detective Darrell Miller at (503) 823-4783 or e-mail Darrell.Miller@PortlandOregon.gov.

The members of Rabbit Advocates said they want the thieves to be caught and will cooperate with police.

KATU reporter Kerry Tomlinson contributed to this report