Rabbit Hoarder Guilty

An Ojai woman who lived with 20 rabbits in a minivan and kept 70 more in a squalid barn was found guilty this week of failing to care for the animals.

Prosecutors said Norma Keyzers, 60, hoarded rabbits, many of which suffered from disease, broken backs, broken necks, open wounds and chewed ears.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Thomas Connors, who prosecutes animal abuse cases for Ventura County, said Keyzers still doesn’t believe she abused the animals.

“She thought she was running a rabbit rescue,” said Connors, adding that this is the largest number of animals he has dealt with in a single case. “I don’t know if she will accept probation.”

Keyzers is scheduled to be sentenced Monday.

Before she was charged, Keyzers, whose last permanent address was in Ojai, had turned over 141 rabbits to a ranch for abused and neglected animals in Santa Paula. A volunteer at the ranch notified the Humane Society of Ventura County, which tracked Keyzers to a barn on Gonzalez Road in Oxnard.

They found 70 rabbits living in cramped pens. Some cages had piles of manure more than 2 feet high, prosecutors said. An additional 20 animals were discovered in her minivan. Of the 90 rabbits, only seven survived. Most were euthanized.

Defense attorneys said Keyzers loved the animals, and rather than simply abandoning them, she tried to find them a safe place to live. Keyzers sobbed in court when the testimony turned to the animals being destroyed.

Tim Dewar, spokesman for the Humane Society, said the case was one of the biggest he has seen locally. He said Keyzers had about 230 rabbits at one point.

“It’s mind-boggling,” he said.

People who take in large numbers of animals and fail to care for them are called hoarders. They were once known as collectors but that implied that they took care of the animals, which they rarely do, Dewar said.

Cats are the most common animals that are hoarded, though dogs, horses and rats have been as well. Women tend to hoard more than men, and Dewar said they usually believe they are providing care for the animals.

“When you are hoarding animals it gets to the point where it is overwhelming,” he said. “Before you realize it, it has gone beyond your ability to care for the animals. But it is difficult to stop hoarding.”

The activity often consumes a person’s money and can lead to poverty and homelessness. Keyzers was living in a van after being evicted from her home for having too many pets, prosecutors said.

Though Keyzers faces up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine for the misdemeanor offense, she will likely be offered probation, Connors said.

“If she accepts probation, we’ll ask for community service, counseling and that she no longer be allowed to keep animals,” he said.