A man who released five giant rabbits in an island plantation found himself facing a possible prison sentence when he appeared before Douglas magistrates.
Michael Patrick Walker of Ballacrye Road in Ballaugh was originally going to represent himself in court until he was told he could go to jail for up to six months.
The court heard the 51-year-old had owned five giant Flemish rabbits which can reach well over a stone in weight and grow to more than 30 inches long.
But deciding he no longer wanted them he decided to give them freedom and release them back into the wild at Arrasay plantation.
He was charged with abandoning the animals between February 22 and March 4, which he admitted. A second charge of releasing a non-native animal into the wild was withdrawn.
Prosecutor Michael Jelski said the MSPCA had been alerted about the rogue rabbits, each weighing around 20lbs, lying low in the plantation and it had taken four staff several hours to round them up and take them back to the centre at Ard Jerkyll.
He said the animals, which were originally bred for meat and fur but are now prized as pets because of their docile nature, could not have survived in the wild because of their friendly nature and lack of any sense of danger.
When he was interviewed, the defendant told police his partner had ‘lost it’ because of the damage the rabbits were causing and he did not want to destroy them so had decided to release them in the plantation. He said he had tried on Facebook to find homes but had not contacted the MSPCA.
Defending him, Peter Russell said: ‘They were regularly breaking out and destroying the garden and making a general nuisance of themselves.’
He said Walker felt the rabbits could have looked after themselves. In the event all had been recovered and no real harm done.
Passing sentence, magistrates’ chairman Brian Walton said it was a harsh lesson learned.
Walker was fined £300 and must pay costs, including those of the MSPCA, of £611.