A woman who was distraught after her rabbit went missing, was left horrified after a video emerged online of her family pet being tortured to death by thieves.
Rebecca Atkinson’s white rabbit Percy is believed to have been stolen from its hutch in County Durham, and his whereabouts unknown until Rebecca went online on Sunday morning to see a video of her pet being tortured by three teenagers.
The video showed three young men naked in a bath with a white rabbit matching Percy, with the video going on to show the pet being set alight and thrown out a window.
The family were only alerted to the video by friends who had seen it posted on a social media site in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Percy was taken away from her 11 babies, who are now being hand-fed by the Atkinson family.
Anthony Atkinson, Rebecca’s husband said:
“We only thought that Percy was stolen so we reported it to the police but we never even imagined that someone could do something like this to her. When she received a message showing her what happened to the Percy we were gobsmacked. It's disgusting and sick.
The family’s oldest daughter, Jessica 14, said:
“I want to keep some of the babies as a reminder but we aren't sure if we believe that they will be safe here.”
Two men, aged 19 and 20 and a teen, aged 17, have been arrested and bailed over the incident and another 16-year-old remains in custody.
Police are now investigating the theft and death of the white lionhead rabbit.
Image via Daily Mail.
