Rabbits used in Anna Delvey photoshoot dumped in Prospect Park, sparking outrage: ‘Regret it deeply'

New York Post

19 hours ago

A hare-y situation has thrown the Big Apple's infamous 'fake heiress' Anna Delvey back in the spotlight.
The scammer-turned-model got ripped by animal lovers after several rabbits she used in a glamorous photoshoot were found dumped in Prospect Park last week.
Activists quickly drew the link to Delvey, who had posted photos from the downtown Manhattan shoot at around the same time as the rescues, with the caption 'our bunny daycare is open.'
'These animals were left in a park to die right after this photoshoot. Living things are not your photo props,' artist Alison Kuo commented under Delvey's Instagram post.
Delvey claims she was totally oblivious, telling Page Six on Monday: 'I do not eat meat, and I had no involvement in the acquisition, transport, or return of these animals. I would never condone these actions.'
But the same can't be said for Christian Batty, a 19-year-old assistant on the photoshoot, who wrote in a statement on social media that he 'panicked' when he realized he'd be responsible for the floppy-eared 'props.'
'When I realized the rabbits were being surrendered to me, I panicked,' he wrote in the hare-brained confession, which Delvey shared on her own Instagram account Sunday.
4 Animal lovers are slamming Anna Delvey after several rabbits used for her glamorous downtown Manhattan social media photoshoot were found dumped in Prospect Park.
'At 19, with no experience caring for animals … and no knowledge of available resources, I felt overwhelmed and made the worst possible choice,' Batty wrote. 'Believing, mistakenly, that there were existing rabbits in that area, I released them [in Prospect Park], thinking that was my best option. That belief was wrong, and I regret it deeply.'
Three of the abandoned bunnies are now in the foster care of animal rescuer Terry Chao, who said that she and two neighbors had rescued Parker, a harlequin lop, on August 4 and Moon, also a harlequin, three days later.
In an Instagram post, Chao said she drew was notified about Delvey's photoshoot on Saturday — and was already familiar with it because Batty had initially alerted her to see if she would lend the team her own Instagram-famous rabbit.
'Anon posts calling out Christian & Anna started appearing on the NYC Rabbits group & Reddit piecing the evidence together. It was undeniable these were the exact same bunnies from her shoot,' Chao wrote.
'The pressure worked & a confession was issued,' she said, adding that Batty went to Prospect Park with her to help rescue a third missing bunny, a gray fur-ball who has since been named Joaquin, after the actor.
4 Rescuers caught wind of the stunt after the familiar-looking floppy-eared props were rescued from the Brooklyn park on Aug. 4 and 7, respectively.
Instagram/veganchao
4 Terry Chao helped rescue the three rabbits, which Batty acquired from a Yonkers woman on Facebook.
Instagram/veganchao
The trio had been obtained by Batty — a friend of Delvey's hairstylist on set — from a Yonkers woman looking to surrender her leporine models on a local Facebook group, rescuers said.
A fourth rabbit, Benito, was borrowed from its owner, who wrote on Instagram that they 'happened to see Anna Delvey's story that she needed a bunny for a photoshoot and thought it would be nice for him to meet other rabbits.'
The owner said they were told the other bunnies in the shoot 'also came from a loving home.'
Batty said the faux heiress was 'not involved in anything beyond the photoshoot and did not realize the situation until today.'
'I lied to Anna, and the rest of the team about the rabbits,' Batty's statement said.
Delvey, real name Anna Sorokin, once tried to scam her way to the top of New York's social scene and was convicted in 2022 of scamming banks and businesses out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
4 'Believing, mistakenly, that there were existing rabbits in that area, I released them [in Prospect Park], thinking that was my best option,' Batty wrote. 'That belief was wrong, and I regret it deeply.'
Instagram/Anna Delvey
The real-life inspiration for the Netflix series 'Inventing Anna' now touts 1.1 million Instagram followers – and regularly poses with her ankle monitor since she was released from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody while she fights being deported to Germany.
Kathy Nizzari, of animal advocacy group Lights Out Coalition, told The Post that rabbit dumping in Prospect Park is 'fairly common' – despite the offense carrying a punishment of up to one year in prison and/or a fine of up to $1,000, if convicted.
Animal rescue sources familiar with dumping at Prospect Park estimated at least six rabbits unrelated to the Delvey photo shoot were found last week alone.
'This happens way too often — usually by pet owners — but it never occurred to me a photographer would do such a thing,' said Mary Beth Artz, a local rescuer at the Brooklyn park, 'although it often happens with photographers around Easter time with ducklings and chicks.'
Edita Birnkrant, executive director of animal advocacy group NYCLASS, called on Delvey to 'donate a hefty sum to local rescue groups,' naming the organization They All Want to Live.
Such groups 'have to go to extraordinary effort and expense to rescue, vet and rehome animals like this, who are dumped in parks and left to slowly die due to cruel and irresponsible actions of adults who should know better,' Birnkrant said.