PORTLAND -- The Portland Meat Collective said 18 rabbits were stolen from an instructor's yard Sunday and ten more died as a result.
The rabbits were stolen just before a class on raising rabbits for meat. The group helps people procure local livestock and provides butchery, processing and cooking lessons.
"We’re not sure whether the robbery was politically or economically motivated or both, but we would like to try and find out who did it and why," a PMC statement read.
“It’s pretty upsetting, at the very basic level it’s an invasion of privacy and a theft of personal property,” PMC founder Camas Davis said. “So no matter what that’s about, it makes people pretty uneasy and a little scared, and a little mad.”
Five adult and 13 juvenile rabbits in all were taken. The group also said ten baby rabbits were left without mothers as a result and died of malnutrition.
"(The breeder) was raising those animals for his own personal consumption and he cared for them and raised them well and so feels a bit like he was unfairly targeted and is concerned about the animals in general and what happened to them," she added.
Anyone with information was asked to contact the group via email here.
KGW Reporter Tim Gordon contributed to this report
