A number of residents in Calgary’s northwest community of Arbour Lake tried to save the life of a rabbit with an arrow through its neck. Erick Rubio said he noticed the injured rabbit Wednesday night.
“My kids were in the window — I have a two-year-old — and they said, ‘Daddy, daddy! Bunny!’ I looked outside and saw something sticking out of it and I was like, ‘Is that a stick?’ I looked closer and it was a cross-bow,” Rubio said.
Rubio said he called authorities and police responded because there were concerns the arrow was a weapon.
Police tried to catch the rabbit but had no success.
Neighbours rallied together to do what they could. Bevan Bonnet thought if he got close enough, he could remove the arrow.
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“I thought if I got pliers and vice grips I could grab it and give it a quick pull to get the arrow out of there so it would have the chance to survive,” Bonnett said.
“We had a big fishing net, the one you throw, but the rabbit saw it and bolted.”
Rubio said the rabbit was gasping for air and they could hear it wheezing.
They attempted to lure it with carrots but had no success. He was worried someone else could be hurt.
“That it was shot in a neighborhood with kids? I wouldn’t want somebody to take a shot and have the possibility of it missing and hitting my kid or going through a window,” Rubio said.
Our Global News crews didn’t spot the rabbit on Thursday. Neighbors suspect it likely didn’t survive the night.
“I think there’s a coyote that’s very happy,” Bonnett said.
It’s not clear where the arrow came from.