Miss Froukje walks onto the schoolyard and immediately sees it: the doors of the rabbit hutches are open. Brownie and Oreo, the lop-eared rabbits from the Immanuel school in Steenwijkerwold, have disappeared. No marks, just a strand of hair. “Then we should call the police,” the children say.
Reporter of the municipality of Steenwijkerland
Thursday evening was the evening four-day event in Steenwijk. The children therefore had a study day, so Froukje ten Veen from group 3 and a colleague fed the school animals from the Immanuel School. The two lop-eared rabbits, also called Muffin and Brownie by other children, were still in their cage.
“I’m sure I closed the cage properly,” says Ten Veen. But the next morning the two rabbits were gone.
Stolen or eaten?
“We don’t really know what happened. There are no traces that they were caught by an animal. Previously we had a fox, but you can see that immediately. It was locked in the cage at the time.”
The uncertainty is nagging. Did Oreo and Brownie escape, eaten or take them? “It lives in the village. You can also visit the rabbits outside school hours. Some think someone has taken them. Maybe someone has petted them and left the cage open? Maybe they are still hopping around or they have been eaten.”
‘They were sick of it’
The impact on the children is great. “They were sick of it. They are nice, sweet rabbits,” says Ten Veen. “I love it myself.”
The Immanuel School is a green school where children learn to deal with responsibilities by caring for animals. “They cuddle them and feed them. Children also come to take care of the animals at the weekend.”
Chickens and guinea pigs also roam around the Bellebos. There is a greenhouse, a vegetable garden and a play forest where parents help with the maintenance.
Many children soon knew that the rabbits were gone, also via Facebook, where the call was shared more than a hundred times.
Froukje has already decided that new rabbits will only arrive after the summer holidays. “I hope we find them,” she says. “But I’m afraid of it.”