Twenty-four dead rabbits have been found hanging in trees near a school and children’s football club in South Yorkshire.
Cops are investigating the grim discovery, which was first spotted by a passerby near St Joseph’s Junior Football Club on April 7, before three more were found four days later.
Days passed without a new sighting near Rawmarsh Community School in the village of Rawmarsh, near Rotherham, South Yorkshire, before more were found.
A further twenty were then discovered the following week, found intentionally shot dead and tossed into the trees.
The RSPCA launched an investigation following the upsetting finds and is liaising with police to find out who’s behind the disturbing killings.
Sign up for all of the latest stories
Start your day informed with Metro’s News Updates newsletter or get Breaking News alerts the moment it happens.
An RSPCA spokesperson said: The RSPCA and police have launched an investigation after the bodies of up to 20 more rabbits were found dead in suspicious circumstances in an area of Rotherham.
‘A further 20 rabbits have now been reported to have been found between April 10 and April 12 in similar circumstances, and the RSPCA is now liaising with South Yorkshire Police over the incident.’
Animal Rescue Officer Mark Richardson said: ‘We now believe the poor rabbits have been shot and the police will be looking into any firearms offences which may have been committed.
‘This has been really distressing for passers-by to come across this awful scene on two separate occasions. We have no idea why so many bodies were thrown in the trees, but we find this behaviour very disturbing.’
The lack of CCTV in the affected area has caused a hindrance to the investigation, with anyone having seen something suspicious asked to come forward to the police.
An investigation was launched after a teenager found several dead rabbits dumped in bags in an alleyway in 2024.
The grim discovery was made in the alley near Footscray Meadows in Sidcup, south east London, not far from St Peter Chanel Catholic Primary School, and the investigating RSPCA officer said she ‘sincerely hoped’ none of the school’s pupils stumbled across the sad scene.
At first, three wild rabbits were found, but upon further inspection, another four of the creatures were found in a blue plastic bag.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.