Woman on Trial for Allegedly Neglecting 90 Rabbits

As talk turned to maggots, mangled ears and broken necks, it became obvious there was nothing warm and cuddly about this bunny story.

Norma Catherine Keyzers, an Ojai woman whose interest in rabbits left her homeless and living in a van is on trial for allegedly neglecting 90 of the fuzzy-eared animals.

Deputy Public Defender Leslie Daniels warned jurors in Ventura County Superior Court on Friday that they would see unpleasant photographs but not to let that cloud their judgment. And his client became so overcome by emotion that she broke into sobs that eventually cut short the first day of the trial.

Keyzers, 60, was arrested June 20 by county Humane Society officers after they found her at an Oxnard barn with 70 rabbits in poor condition. Another 20 rabbits lived with her in her van.

In his opening statement, Daniels said that his client loved and cared for her animals and that she tried to get them help.

He said small portions of some rabbits’ ears had been bitten off.

“This is not a case of a woman who let her rabbits run amok,” Daniels said. “This is about a woman who tried to help. She took on a huge responsibility with these rabbits and the burden multiplied. She did her level best and her level best was OK.”

But prosecutors said the animals were in horrific condition, suffering crippling bone disease that kept them from raising their heads.

They said the rabbits also had broken backs and maggots squirming in open wounds.

The barn was dark and the rabbits lived in small cages with manure sometimes piled 4 feet high, prosecutors said.

“Their necks were bent, their legs didn’t function, they couldn’t walk,” testified Tammy Morris, owner of Second Chance Ranch in Santa Paula, which rescues abused and neglected animals. “They could just roll around in circles.”

A veterinarian called to the scene euthanized 18 rabbits immediately.

Another 59 rabbits were put down later, prosecutors said.

Before her arrest for allegedly neglecting 90 rabbits, Keyzers had given Morris 141 others to take care of.

“She said she had no place else to go with her rabbits,” Morris said. “She said she was having a hard time keeping them where she lives so I picked them up.”

Where all the rabbits came from is still unknown.

Prosecutors said Keyzers was evicted from her Ojai home for keeping so many rabbits and was living in a van.

A volunteer at the ranch called the Humane Society after seeing the condition of the rabbits.

They tracked Keyzers to the Oxnard barn and arrested her.

“She had 20 rabbits running around inside her van,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Thomas Connors said. “One had a broken back, one had a broken neck. She tried some therapy but then said she was going to depend on God to heal them. She failed to provide proper care and she didn’t take them to a vet.”

During the trial, Keyzers sat quietly.

But when testimony about euthanizing her rabbits began, she bent over and began sobbing.

“It was so unnecessary,” she yelled.

If convicted of failing to provide proper care to an animal, a misdemeanor, Keyzers faces six months in jail and a fine of $1,000.