SAMMAMISH, Wash. — Claudia and her two daughters were on a walk they do almost every day when they saw a dead bunny.
Her daughters had a lot of questions, but it wasn't until walking back home that she noticed something odd: It looked like a blow dart was through its eye.
This was the second dead rabbit she'd seen recently. The first was by their mailbox.
"There were no clear wounds to indicate an owl had taken it or a bobcat had injured it, so it seemed strange," Claudia said. "I didn't think that much of it until I saw the other one."
Claudia wasn't the only neighbor in Sammamish's Inglewood neighborhood to report seeing a rabbit hit with blow darts. Someone posted a picture a couple of days ago showing a rabbit that appears to be hit with two darts.
"It's animal cruelty because you're prolonging the suffering of an animal," said Suzanne Wes, the executive director of Sarvey Wildlife Care Center. "That's not the intention of someone who is ethically hunting. They are not trying to torture that animal to a slow death."
Sarvey Wildlife Care Center takes in over 3,000 animals a year to rehabilitate. A large percentage of those are rabbits.
"We get a lot of eastern cottontails, which this one looks like it could have been," said West.
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) enforcement officers are looking into these reports, according to the agency.
People must have a small game license to hunt rabbits, according to WDFW. Cottontail hunting season is from Sept. 1 to March 15. Hunters must follow hunting regulations and weapons restrictions.
For Claudia, this trend has become concerning,
"I understand why people view rabbits as a nuisance, but I really feel like put up a fence," Claudia said.