In mid-July 2022, MSPCA Law Enforcement Officer Tia Devallon filed 10 counts of felony animal cruelty charges against a resident of Worcester County for failing to provide care for their 16 rabbits.

The bunnies lived in utter squalor and most suffered from various degrees of malnutrition, infections, urine scald, and other ailments related to poor husbandry. The owner eventually agreed to surrender them to MSPCA Law Enforcement. In collaboration with the MSPCA-Angell Community Outreach team, all 16 were transported to the MSPCA-Angell: Nevins Farm for evaluation and treatment with the hope of rehabilitation and eventual adoption into new homes.

Sadly, two bunnies were so ill from neglect they had to be humanely euthanized upon arrival, but the remaining 14 rabbits recovered, and all have found loving new families.

Many of the MSPCA Law Enforcement cases take years to be adjudicated, so it was good news to learn in early January 2023 that the defendant pleaded guilty to all ten counts. They were sentenced to a year of probation and 80 hours of community service, ordered to not own or possess any animals for their time on probation, and they must complete the Benchmark Animal Rehabilitative Curriculum (BARC) program, which is a course designed to reduce the likelihood that those who have abused or neglected animals will re-offend.