PETA posts reward for help finding rabbit killer

An animal rights group is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information that leads to identification of whoever was responsible for the deaths of about 50 domesticated rabbits outside a state mental health facility in Las Vegas.

“These rabbits died violently at the hands of a dangerous person, and it’s urgent that whoever did this is identified, held accountable and stopped from hurting anyone else,” Colleen O’brien, vice president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said in a news release Monday.

Local rabbit rescuers suspect poisoning of the bunnies, which lived on the grounds of the state of Nevada West Charleston campus, at 6171 W. Charleston Blvd. Preliminary examinations of the animals by Las Vegas veterinarian Nicole Smee found that the animals had cracked ribs from blunt-force trauma.

Most of the rabbits remaining at the site were captured and sent to shelters. Stacey Taylor, of the rescue group Bunnies Matter in Vegas Too, said several are available for adoption locally.