A mother and her 10-year-old daughter were traumatised when they witnessed severely injured and dead bunnies with crushed or broken hips and broken or severed legs in Durbanville cemetery.
The bunnies were beaten with a golf club and poles by a group of boys — between seven and 12 years of age, some of whom are known to live in Morningstar.Most of the injured bunnies had to be euthanised to relieve them of their misery.
While trying to catch the injured bunnies, the mother also saw several graves that had been freshly vandalised — the tombstones broken and pushed over. One of the gravestones was also vandalised with rude language spray-painted all over it.
The day before, the security guard at the cemetery was pelted with stones by the same boys when she reprimanded them. Her calls for assistance to the City of Cape Town fell on deaf ears. The law enforcement department was also reported to have failed to respond. A private security company in Durbanville came to their rescue in the end.
This comes after a pellet gun was used to shoot many bunnies in the cemetery in March.
Gates locked
According to Amor McLaren, she and her daughter, Mikah, arrived at the cemetery on Sunday 3 May at about 12:40 to feed the bunnies. Also in the cemetery at that time was Genae Maree, a volunteer with The House of Fluffles, a rabbit rescue organisation in Claremont that assists with the cemetery bunnies through sterilisations, rehoming and covering veterinary bills. Maree was accompanied by her 70-year-old mother, Gill.
“When we arrived, both the upper gates were locked and we could not see a security guard. After waiting a short while, the guard came and said that she was locking the gates because ‘boys were beating the bunnies and I chased them away, so they threw stones at me as well’.
“She had attempted to take a video on her phone of the children, which she also showed us. At the second feeding station, we noticed an injured rabbit and decided to catch her. I administered pain medication and took her to the veterinarian the following morning,” she says.
“We named her Candy Cane — a beautiful, gentle old soul. Candy Cane was examined by Dr Jacqeuline Sharp of the Sharp Exotic and Small Animal Veterinary Clinic in Kraaifontein. She informed us that the bunny’s pelvis was broken. The decision was made to relieve her of her pain and trauma.”
Pointed out dead bunny
When McLaren moved to the next few feeding stations, the guard called them over and pointed out a dead rabbit. “The dead rabbit appeared to have suffered greatly, with blood coming from her mouth, nose, eyes and ears. We removed her remains,” she says.
When they went to feed the bunnies at the other feeding stations, the guard came to warn them that there were three boys at the lower part of the cemetery — the same ones who had been throwing stones at the rabbits the previous day.
“I then noticed that a larger group of youths was walking along the upper fencing, seeking ways to enter the cemetery. I immediately noticed that they were carrying thick sticks and something that appeared to be a pipe, as well as a golf club,” she says.
“I tried to block them from entering, but when I looked again they were inside the cemetery regardless. I put my daughter in the car with the rabbit with the broken pelvis, as I felt the atmosphere was hostile. I drove to the guard and asked her to call for assistance on the radio without delay. She said she had tried the previous day, but that no one would come to assist her. I then immediately called for help, and two security companies arrived. I made a great deal of noise and sounded the horn to attract attention.
“The children were in two groups — the one group (with the sticks and golf club) claimed they were there to visit a grave, and the other three boys, who had in the meantime climbed over the fencing at the lower part of the cemetery, were the ones who had been pelting the rabbits with stones,” she says.
“When they noticed the security companies, they disposed of the majority of their ‘weapons’ — only the golf club remained at that point. One of the security companies then entered (whilst the other vehicle circled to go and look for the children who had climbed over the fencing) and confronted the children. The security officer told them that they were not permitted to be in the cemetery, particularly not without parental supervision. He also told them that they were lying about visiting graves and were simply there to cause mischief. They were then removed, and we went home — though we were tremendously rattled by the encounter with these children. There is simply a very evident aggression that emanates from them.”
Bunny with crushed hip
“When someone went to feed the bunnies on the following Tuesday, they discovered a male bunny with a crushed hip. “We struggled for two days to catch him — hence the name Chase. He was caught, received pain medication and was taken to the vet. Unfortunately, he had to be euthanised as well.”
It was while trying to catch Chase that they noticed the freshly vandalised graves.
Two days later, a bunny with a broken front leg was discovered. “The leg was completely severed. We tried to catch him but did not want to chase him around too much. We have not yet been able to catch him. There is also another black rabbit with a broken hind leg that has already been broken for more than a week, but he also evades us each time,” she says.
Bunnies sold at taxi rank
They were also told that the children from Morningstar are catching the bunnies in the cemetery to sell them at the taxi rank.
“Someone witnessed this and was able to rescue one of the rabbits. We named him Pepsi. Pepsi’s ear was badly injured and we treated it. We suspect that whatever they did with the rabbits was highly traumatic, as Pepsi spent four days decompressing with me in a dark corner. He was severely traumatised. We do not know what became of the others that were taken to be sold.”
No action taken by police
No charges were laid with the local police. “On previous occasions when incidents were reported, no action was taken following the opening of a case,” says Kaylin-Lee Eveleigh, who founded The Happy Hoppers Bun Club in 2023 as a community of rabbit lovers.
The City’s recreation and parks department was also slow to respond to a request to put up signs at the cemetery to discourage people from dumping their pet bunnies there.
Permission was finally granted after TygerBurger enquired about the delay.
“The Dutch Reformed Church wants us to remove all the bunnies from their grounds, but has also officially refused to allow the anti-dumping signs to be put up. The police are tolerating the approximately 10 bunnies which we sterilised for them, but have also refused to allow the anti-dumping boards,” another volunteer says.
The City had not responded to TygerBurger‘s enquiries about the incident and its failure to respond by the time of publication.
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