OK, I’ll tell you up front that the rabbit lived. That should lessen any anxiety produced by this story.

A Lawrence man, arrested Sunday night, is accused of cruelty to animals and theft.

Shawn Witte Zuehlsdorf, 30, injured a rabbit at Hilltop Child Development Center on Wednesday, according to University of Kansas Public Safety Deputy Chief James Anguiano. Zuehlsdorf is a university employee, but is not employed by Hilltop, Anguiano said.

Jeremy Fite, Hilltop’s executive director, said the rabbit’s name is Carrots and that he is a classroom pet at the day care.

Between 2 and 2:45 a.m. Wednesday, Zuehlsdorf reportedly pulled the rabbit’s tail off and took it from the day care center, Anguiano said.

The report took Fite by surprise, he said.

Zuehlsdorf is one of a number of people who clean the day care after hours, Fite said. It is unclear what precipitated the incident involving Carrots.

Fite said Carrots survived the encounter and is currently on the mend.

“Hopefully he’ll be back in the classrooms soon,” he said.

Zuehlsdorf was arrested Sunday night on suspicion of two counts of cruelty to animals and a single count of theft, according to the Douglas County Jail’s online booking logs. He was arrested at KU’s Office of Public Safety, 1501 Crestline Drive.

Zuehlsdorf is currently being held at the jail in lieu of a $3,000 bond, the jail logs say.
Additional information was not immediately available.

Correction: KU Public Safety initially misidentified Zuehlsdorf as an employee of Hilltop Child Development Center. He is a university employee, but is not employed by Hilltop, KU Public Safety Deputy Chief James Anguiano clarified.

I report on crime and courts for the Journal-World. I can be reached by email at cswanson@ljworld.com, by phone at (785) 832-7284 or on Twitter @Conrad_Swanson.