A couple of months ago I shared my recipe for Violet’s Carrot Cake a recipe I created in memory of my sweet rabbit, Violet. Because her death broke my heart. It was my way of working out some of my heartbreak and sadness and make a few people, who got to enjoy the cake, a little happy.

I mentioned in the post that I couldn’t talk about it too much for legal reasons – but now all of that has ended and I can tell you about it.

Here is what happened to Violet, the French Angora Rabbit.

WARNING: If you are an animal lover, you may want to skip this post.

Violet was one of three French Angora rabbits I purchased in the fall of 2017. Of the three she was the sweetest. Even my husband, not the animal lover I am, adored her and would search the yard for bits of clover to give her when he came home from work in the evening. She was a sweetheart! While I adore the other two rabbits, Lily and Daisy, they are divas and can be kind of grumpy. They just don’t have the same gentle personality.

I had left the door to the garden shed, where I house the rabbits in the winter, open to air out on a warm spring day while I was just across the yard, in the garden, setting up new raised beds.

It was during a short time while I was in the garage gathering supplies for the beds that a white German shepherd Husky mix got into the shed, busted open TWO rabbit cages and made off with my sweet Violet. He wasn’t able to get to Lily, likely the first cage he got into, because her cage is deeper and the door is in a corner. She had room to smoosh herself into the back corner where he couldn’t get her.

So he moved on to Violet’s cage, broke it open, and because it wasn’t super deep he was able to grab her and take her out of her cage and the shed.

I came back into the yard as he was leaving my property.

At first, I thought it was the neighbors duck and I was just reaching for my cell phone to call her when I realized that the white stuff on the ground wasn’t feathers after all. It was fur!

I don’t think I’ve ever been hysterical in my life. Until the moment I realized that my rabbit was being carried off. I rushed over to the shed and saw the empty cage and immediately called the police.

This dog has been in my yard repeatedly over the past couple of years and the owner didn’t bother to apologize or reach out to make amends. I wasn’t about to let the owners off the hook. So, after several days of no communication by the police I decided to file a civil lawsuit. I took the property owner to small claims court to recoup the cost of the rabbit and the French Angora fiber I’ve lost as part of my income.

I won.

I haven’t seen a dime yet, and I understand after doing some research that it is unlikely I will ever get paid because the courts do not enforce these things. I’m broken hearted and it’s really put a damper on my suburban farm vibe. It’s just SAD. It’s hard enough to fight off natural predators and insane weather without also having to deal with “dog at large” situations and dog owners who refuse to act responsibly.

I haven’t given up on my small farm dreams but it’s sure made this year a little harder.