One of the rabbits at the Humane Society of SW Washington on Monday. (KPTV)
Imagine 150 animals inside a single home.
That’s what Clark County Animal Control officers recently found at a home in Vancouver’s Orchards neighborhood, after a number of complaints from people living nearby.
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Animal Control spokesperson Paul Scarpelli told FOX 12 they believe the homeowner, who is not being identified, had good intentions – but things obviously got out of hand.
That person willingly surrendered 107 rabbits, 19 chickens and 21 guinea pigs on March 10.
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The Humane Society of SW Washington took all the animals, giving the chickens to partners with farms in the area and the guinea pigs to the Portland Guinea Pig Rescue.
“It’s been a whirlwind, definitely,” said Lisa Feder with the Humane Society. “For the most part, we’ll have one, maybe two rabbits at any given time. I think in general we see about 50 rabbits a year, so this is a tremendous amount to care for at any given time.”
On top of food and supplies, every rabbit had to be spayed or neutered, adding to an already busy surgery schedule at the facility.
While the homeowner is not facing any charges, he could have to pay restitution to cover the costs of caring for the animals, which Scarpelli said is between $10,000 and $15,000 so far.
The scope of the intake was so large, the Humane Society had to set up a temporary shelter at the Clark County Fairgrounds.
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