Soi 26 bunnies: Disappearance of local rabbits has neighborhood talking

Is your daily walk through Phrom Phong feeling slightly shy of it’s usual dose of bunny ears and cottontails? Missing the faint waft of rabbit droppings over lunch at Casa Lapin? You aren’t alone in those sentiments.

For the last four years, one of the most notable landmarks on leafy, elegant Sukhumvit Soi 26 was the storefront-sized cage of rabbits in front of advertising agency Cathay Alliance.

Several weeks ago, however, the rabbits disappeared leaving just an empty cage and neighbors asking, “Has something funny happened to those bunnies?”

While some neighbors found the rabbits cute, others worried for the health and safety of the animals in their streetside cage.

However you felt about the rabbits, they were well-known in the area though few knew why they were there or where they came from.

It turns out that the bunny tale began in Chatuchak Market, where a pair of rabbits was purchased by the owner of the ad agency. Since he had empty space in front of his business, he constructed a cage for them there.

The two bunnies did what bunnies do best and, soon enough, the cage held more than 30 rabbits.

Though there are still questions left unanswered, Coconuts Bangkok attempted to uncover the mystery of the missing bunnies.

Atchara Kriengcharoensiri works at Cathay Alliance. She explained that the bunnies had to be moved because power lines needed to go through their space to serve a neighboring building. Since they were so numerous, the bunnies were split up and distributed amongst several animal welfare charities or adopted by private individuals. She could not recall the names of the specific charities.

After contacting several animal welfare agencies in the city, Coconuts Bangkok was only able to track down two of the bunnies and, unfortunately, they had met an unfortunate end.

Marita, of Rabbit Rescue and Shelter, said that her organization could only afford to take two of the sickest rabbits and provide treatment for them.

Despite the hard work of their staff veterinarian, the rabbits survived for only five days after being rescued on Jan 16. “They were in severe condition,” she said.

According to the group’s Facebook page, the bunnies were suffering from high white blood cell counts and inflamed lungs that made breathing and drinking difficult.

We will miss the furry little family that was such a curiosity on an otherwise pleasant, quiet soi. But we hope that the unaccounted for critters have found greener, happier homes.