Teens rescue bunny found in Utah County park with dart in its head
Apr 9, 2018, 6:13 PM | Updated: 9:24 pm
HIGHLAND, Utah – Buttons, the bunny, has been getting lots of love and food now in a new home. That’s a dramatic change from where he was just two days ago – in a park with a dart through his head.
Katie and her brother, of American Fork, were at Highland Glen Park in Highland Friday, when something caught their attention.
“We saw Buttons, and we were like, ‘Oh my gosh, we have to help him,’” Katie said.
Buttons the Bunny was found in Highland Glen Park in Utah County with a dart through his head. Veterinarians were able to successfully remove the dart.
They tried to catch him so they could take him to a vet, but Buttons wasn’t going to make it easy for them. The dart stuck in his head, caught on some brush and Katie scooped him up.
“After 4 ½ hours of chasing him through a quite a few obstacles, we caught him,” she said.
A dart had gone through the side of his cheek, right below his eyes and it exited out in front of his nose.
“He got lucky that it just navigated under the bunny’s skin,” said Yoeny Calas-Dobson, veterinarian with Riverwood Pet Hospital in Provo.
She was able to gently pull out the dart.
“This is a very lucky bunny,” she said.
Calas-Dobson said the 2-month-old domesticated bunny was probably set loose, got out of somebody’s house and started living in the park when it got shot.
“I hope they catch whoever did it because that’s actually abuse,” Dobson said. “That’s animal abuse.”
The 15-year-old rescuer, who wants to be a veterinarian, said she doesn’t understand why anyone would shoot a bunny.
“He’s so cute,” she said. “He’s cuddly, even after he got shot.” 
While Buttons is safe, with a clean bill of health and a new home with Katie, she was concerned for the safety of two other bunnies that were seen in the park at the same time as Buttons, but they couldn’t catch.
“We assume that most likely they had been shot at, but we have no idea what happened to the other two,” Katie said.
She planned to keep searching the park.
Officials from the Lone Peak Police Department said it’s a violation of city ordinance to fire a projectile within city limits and whoever is responsible could face a cruelty to animal charge.
Anyone with information on the bunny shooting has been asked to contact the Loan Peak Police Department at 801-756-9800.
