Waukesha — For 9-year-old Jayden Rajnicek and her mom, Karin, winning honors for their prized rabbits at last week's Waukesha County Fair was a thrill.
The excitement quickly wore off, though, after someone snatched one of the rabbits' baby bunnies from a cage in the goat and rabbit tent, Waukesha County Sheriff's Detective Steve Pederson said Wednesday.
Cracker, a 7-week-old female Holland Lop, was in a cage with its mother and two male siblings, Marshmallow and Chocolate, when she was taken sometime after 10 p.m. Friday and before 7:30 a.m. Saturday, Pederson said. The father was in a cage next to the mother and babies.
"They were the most precious things to us," Karin Rajnicek said.
Together, she said, they were s'mores.
The rabbits were part of the family for the Rajniceks, of Waukesha, who said they once held a wedding for the rabbit parents, complete with a veil and carrot cake for dessert.
"They are all loved so much. These bunnies are held constantly," Karin Rajnicek said.
Because this was the rabbits' first litter, the Rajniceks didn't want to separate the family, so they brought them all to the fair.
The babies drew a lot of attention, so much that the Rajniceks were told to fasten zip ties to the cage as an added security precaution, she said. While the zip ties were not cut to gain access to the cage, someone was able to bend the cage door to grab one of the babies, she said.
"It was very suspicious," Rajnicek said.
Fair workers and the Rajniceks searched all day Saturday before calling the Sheriff's Department Saturday evening, Rajnicek said.
The monetary value of the bunny is estimated at $60, Pederson said. For the Rajniceks, her value was priceless.