Notorious Rabbit Hoarder Caught Again (VIDEO)

PORTLAND, Ore. - Washington County's "Bunny Lady" is back in the hutch after violating a court order banning her from owning animals for five years. Miriam Sakewitz, 47, was arrested Tuesday at a hotel in the Portland suburb of Tigard after an employee reported finding rabbits hopping around in her room.

Problems for Sakewitz started in October 2006 when police in Hillsboro, about 15 miles west of Portland, found and confiscated nearly 250 rabbits in her home, including about 100 dead ones in freezers and refrigerators.

Police said she broke into the facility where the survivors were being cared for in January 2007 and stole most of them back. Authorities found her a few days later in Chehalis, Wash., with eight live rabbits and two dead ones in her car. Another 130 rabbits were recovered at a nearby horse farm.

Sakewitz was sentenced in April 2007 to five years probation and was banned from owning or controlling animals. She also was told not to go within 100 yards of a rabbit.

That summer, Sakewitz was ordered to spend three days in jail for violating her probation by keeping a rabbit in her house. County probation officer Susan Ranger also said Sakewitz had canceled counseling sessions and refused to open the door for unannounced visits. Ranger said she found no rabbits when she finally got inside but did find a half-empty 10-pound bag of carrots.

Since then, Sakewitz has remained "pretty quiet" -- until this week, said Washington County probation officer Bob Severe. "We hadn't heard much further from her," he said, adding she was thought to be living in Clackamas County.

On Tuesday, Washington County animal control officers removed eight adult rabbits, five young ones and a dead one from Sakewitz's hotel room, Tigard police spokesman Jim Wolf said.

Sakewitz was in custody Wednesday, and Wolf said he did not know if she had an attorney. She was to be arraigned Wednesday afternoon on animal neglect charges.

Comments

[americanalien]

10:46 AM on 06/20/2009

"She also was told not to go within 100 yards of a rabbit"

That has to be the funniest unintentional joke I've ever read.

[armedandliberal]

07:36 AM on 06/20/2009

"Its duck season! "

[TigersEye]

02:15 AM on 06/20/2009

I would love to have a zoo full of animals on my property, too - who doesn't love cute animals? But come on!

This lady is out of control and is obviously mentally ill. I agree that she needs psychiatric help, not jail time. She'll just get out and keep doing the same thing.

[BeachBubbaTex]

08:58 AM on 06/20/2009

What if the rabbits are collecting her?

[TigersEye]

12:21 PM on 06/20/2009

Now that's an interesting concept. ;)

[incognito-ergo-sum]

11:12 PM on 06/19/2009

I have heard that animal hoarders were sexually abused as children. That may be her case.

[rini]

06:13 AM on 06/20/2009

I have never heard of "animal hoarders" before. Although we all know the stereotype of the "cat lady."

sad

[cinemaven]

10:17 PM on 06/19/2009

So sad that this is being dealt with in a way that isn't helping her deal with what is obviously a tremendous illness.

I really hope she gets the help she needs

[KMan1]

10:52 AM on 06/19/2009

Poor lady she is clearly not well. Jail time is never going to solve this problem. We will all be better served the day the justice system start thinking outside the box or rather the jail cell. Get the woman psychiatric help already!

[JackRusselTerrier]

03:12 PM on 06/19/2009

Excellent point.

There are far too many people in jail in America who are more of a danger to themselves than society. How can America still call itself a free nation when we have more people in jail than any other country. It's time we stop funding the prisons more than schools and our health care system.

Too often our reaction is to hire more police and build new prisons instead of solving the social ills that are causing people to commit crimes. There would be far less robberies and murders if we look at problems proactively instead of reactionary.

Locking people up for every infraction is not a solution. Eventually they will be released back into society. Prisons do not rehabilitate people. They make better criminals.

Since prisons were privatised, lobbyist have pushed hard to toughen laws, especially for nonviolent offenders. This benefits the prison industrial complex more than anyone else.

[MakeAWish]

09:51 AM on 06/20/2009

The article stated she had canceled counseling sessions. She needs to be in a psychiatric facility for a short time, so she can be properly assessed and treated.

[ranchero42]

06:20 PM on 06/18/2009

What's the fascination with critters that eat their own poop?

[Dystopic]

12:14 PM on 06/21/2009

because we have a 2 party system.

[whatbox]

05:26 PM on 06/18/2009

You know what's really funny? If these had been guns, instead of rabbits, there'd be all kinds of people here defending her right to keep them...

[Graceless]

05:38 PM on 06/18/2009

That's not funny at all and I'm not entirely sure how a comparison can be made between owning guns and owning rabbits.

[Vcubed]

06:03 PM on 06/18/2009

See? You're getting huffy and defensive. whatbox has a point!

[Christian Cullen]

06:17 PM on 06/18/2009

Well, they both fire little round pellets!

[SurrealPumpkin]

10:08 AM on 06/19/2009

Not here. We'd be defending their right to have the guns removed.

That said, live/dead bunnies are a different thing from guns. Not every gun user actually fires it at people. Bunnies are alive and require a different level of care.

[whatbox]

05:20 PM on 06/18/2009

Perhaps she just REALLY likes rabbits...

[Puffin16]

05:13 PM on 06/18/2009

What she needs is a rabbit's foot for good luck!

[TigersEye]

02:10 AM on 06/20/2009

No dismembering of rabbits allowed.

[Dystopic]

12:15 PM on 06/21/2009

never brought the rabbit any luck

[DMSmith]

04:45 PM on 06/18/2009

This poor lady needs help. Serious, long-term help. Preferably in an institution where she can NOT have bunnies. She clearly will not stop otherwise.

[SurrealPumpkin]

10:09 AM on 06/19/2009

There's a serious problem here.

[markinaz]

04:34 PM on 06/18/2009

Loon alert!

[overcat]

04:20 PM on 06/18/2009

You're obviously on the white rabbit "One pill makes you larger, and one pill makes you small, and the one that mother gives you, doesn't do anything at all..."

[mayfly0]

10:42 PM on 06/19/2009

Lol.

[mayfly0]

10:52 PM on 06/19/2009

But in all seriousness, it does appear that she needs more help, than the criminal justice system can give her.

[clearthinker2008]

03:53 PM on 06/18/2009

She doesn't need to be jailed, she needs mental help. Jail doesn't solve all our problems in America.

[jmcalli]

09:46 AM on 06/20/2009

Many Americans don't want problems solved; they want them warehoused where they don't have to see them or deal with them. U.S. Prisons are not about justice.

To quote Senator Jim Webb, "The United States has only 5 percent of the world's population, it has 25 percent of its prison population." Something is very wrong here.

[Thomas Goodwin]

02:54 PM on 06/18/2009

Just one more bunny. All I need is one more bunny and I'll be able to make it through the day. If I get my bunny fix I am set, you won't have any more problems with me. So just give me the freeking Rabit man!!!