Jefferson County, CO Sheriff Confiscates Six Bells Farm's Rabbits: More Tales of the Rabbit Police

Debe Bell was surprised when her neighbor called her around 1:00PM on the afternoon of July 21, 2011. The neighbor explained the Jefferson County, Colorado Sheriff's Department was confiscating the rabbits from her farm. Unlike our friends John Dollarhite, who was the first high-profile rabbit case, Bell didn't raise rabbits for pets. Her rabbits were strictly meat, fur, fiber, and show, and she was known nationally at one of the top rabbit farmers in the country, often receiving top three honors in shows as well as 4H events.

The questions arise from the confiscation of the rabbits from the search warrants and the fact it appears the rabbits went from living in healthy conditions to the hands of the Jefferson County animal control department, who apparently had no knowledge of how raise rabbits.

The Jefferson County Sheriff's Department showed up with animal control earlier in the morning. The sheriff's department implied they had a search warrant when Bell's ex-husband answered the door. The ex-husband never challenged the deputies and proceeded to let them into the barn.

The deputies were there with animal control because they received a tip from Crime Stoppers. A couple months prior, Crime Stoppers began paying rewards of $2000 for tips, and Bell would learn the anonymous tipper was someone who had visited the barn from the previous year, which clearly shows the motivation for the complaint wasn't animal welfare but the reward of $2000.

Bell had been farming for 25 years without ever having a complaint. Her livestock always received award after award at the Jefferson County Fair. As well, she maintained strict compliance with the laws making sure she had all the required licenses required for all of her livestock.

Now she had one complaint so multiple deputies and animal control were now in her barn unbeknownst to Bell. Also, upon learning of the deputies at her farm, Bell was never told what the actual complaint was on Crime Stoppers that brought the attention of the Sheriff's Office to her private property. To this day, the anonymous tipper made off with $2,000 while the complaint has been hidden from Bell.

So thinking the Sheriff's had a search warrant, the ex-husband shows them into the barn. Animal control looked around all the cages and found only one dead rabbit in a cage. Upon finding the rabbit, the animal control officer Christine Padilla told the ex-husband "that changes everything." Padilla, began making calls to a vet (Cindy Hill), House Rabbit Society (run by Nancy LaRoche), and more deputies.

Six Bells Farm was no small operation. They had 163 rabbits and 19 babies on the premises. One dead rabbit quickly drew the attention of the deputies and animal control. It's not uncommon for rabbits to die when they are livestock, and Bell often had to put down sick rabbits. She used proper procedures to euthanize a sick rabbit. Sick rabbits were often frozen and then sent to the local zoo as meat for the animals.

Animal control concluded the rabbits lived in "deplorable conditions." They first cited that many of the rabbits were positioned in the front of the cages. Animal control argued this showed the rabbits were "aggressively thirsty." Yet, Bell maintained a strict feeding and watering schedule where rabbits were watered two times a day, morning and evening, and always fed in the evening. Like any animal, sometimes the water dish is tipped over. Bell says many of her rabbits come to the front of the cage because they are conditioned to as show animals.

Bell arrived at her farm about 1:40 that afternoon after her neighbor called to alert her of the confiscation. At that time, Bell asked to see the search warrant. There lies the first problem. As noted above, deputies implied to the ex-husband there was a search warrant, but the warrant was still in process and hadn't been approved by the judge before the raid of her farm began. Bell says it took six hours for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office to produce a warrant.

The second problem came as the animal control department began confiscating the rabbits. There were 163 rabbits and 19 babies that were confiscated. Now animal control explained the rabbits were living in "deplorable conditions." Bell noted the animal control department jeopardized the health of the rabbits immediately upon confiscation. She says animal control wrapped up the babies in towels in the intense heat and then put them in cat boxes. Bell watched animal control put the mother in the same box as the baby rabbits. Obviously, this is a huge mistake. Mother rabbits will stomp, which kills the babies, which she says are valued at $150 piece. Also, it's very likely the mother rabbit will turn on their young as well for food.

As animal control and Jefferson County Sheriffs were confiscating the rabbits, Bell took pictures of the raid. Upon the fourth picture, Bell was warned by one deputy that if she took another picture she would be arrested. Animal control also labeled the rabbits as pets despite Bell arguing otherwise. This word pet comes under stricter laws, as we know from the Dollarhite case. Bell had never raised rabbits as pets. Yet, the case describes the rabbits as pets.

It took over five hours to haul off the rabbits. They are now in the control of the Jefferson County animal control department according to Bell. A friend of Bell's managed to see the rabbits that were confiscated and noted the rabbits were living in inhumane conditions at a county facility. The friend noted the rabbits were living in cages that didn't drain their urine, so the rabbits were laying in their own urine in newspaper lined cages. As well, the rabbits were eating the newspaper. Making one question again, how does the animal control department justify describing Six Bells Farm as deplorable when they apparently have no knowledge how to keep rabbits.

Bell faces 24 misdemeanors for animal cruelty. Her court date is September 12. The story doesn't end here. Animal control showed up a few days later ready to come after her chickens. They noted her eight year old rooster was missing two of its toenails as proof the chickens weren't being treated humanely. I guess these people have never seen a Tyson chicken farm, as once again we see who the real target is in America. It's the small farmer.