CYPRESS : Rabbit Caretaker to End Her Services

Spending 30 hours a week caring for the rabbits of Nature Park has left Jean Sleeper exhausted. So the biologist, who saved the abandoned Easter pets from possible death three months ago, says she has had enough.

“I can’t do it anymore,” said Sleeper, a teacher at Los Alamitos High School.

Once more, the fate of the rabbits is up to the City Council, which voted this week to keep the park-turned-petting zoo operating for now.

“I think we are going to have an ongoing problem,” said Mayor Walter K. Bowman. “I would be in favor of closing down the whole thing. I think we need to bite the bullet.”

Bowman was unable to persuade his fellow council members, who voted to keep the existing herd and to send new rabbits to the Orange County Animal Control shelter, to discontinue the arrangement.

“I believe the bunnies we have there should stay there,” said Councilwoman Gail H. Kerry.

In December, Sleeper came to the rescue of the rabbits. Since then, 68 have been caught and taken to the offices of veterinarian John Hardison to be spayed or neutered. Another 13 have been euthanized and 52 have been adopted.

Records have been kept on the rabbits, including their weights and whether they have been tattooed, a method of keeping count of the population. A picture of each bunny is even included in each file.

But despite these efforts, there are still problems. Rabbits and guinea pigs continue to be abandoned in the park in defiance of a sign that warns that rabbit-dumping is against the law. Officials worry that the situation will worsen in the coming weeks as people grow tired of rabbits given to them as Easter presents.

But what worries Sleeper the most is happening to the rabbits at night. Bunnies that are healthy one day are turning up sick and injured the next.

“The rabbits are being hurt,” she said. “We have found some with broken backs.”

According to police, two juveniles and one adult were arrested in December for trying to steal rabbits. Other than kids trying to scale the fence to get into the park, there haven’t been any problems in the last few months, said Lt. Phillip Satterfield.

The nature park is fenced off and visitors are escorted in by a park ranger during daylight hours.

The council’s action this week left a few unanswered questions, including who will take the sick rabbits to the vet. The city will continue to provide alfalfa for the rabbits to eat, but officials don’t know who will assume the day-to-day maintenance of the rabbit population.