The fake heiress, the Instagram shoot and the abandoned bunnies
But not long after, some bunnies that had been procured for the photo shoot with the would-be socialite were abandoned in Prospect Park in Brooklyn, unleashing a torrent of backlash towards the real Anna Sorokin, who in an interview with The New York Times on Monday said she was not responsible for procuring the rabbits and that she was 'horrified' when she learned that they had been ditched.
'I felt ashamed and embarrassed to be associated with it,' Sorokin, 34, said.
Sorokin, who pretended to be a wealthy German heiress and landed in prison for nearly four years for swindling Manhattan's elite, spent 18 months behind bars in immigration detention for overstaying her visa. She has filled her time lately with photo shoots, publicity stunts and a stint on Dancing With the Stars.
On August 3, Sorokin posted the photo shoot with the bunnies on a New York City footpath. The bunny cradled in Sorokin's arms was an 18-month-old Harlequin lop named Parker.
But the next day, Terry Chao, a web specialist who blogs about vegan causes in her spare time, spotted Parker in Prospect Park, recognising the rabbit from a Facebook group where some bunnies had recently been listed as available for adoption.
Parker had been hiding in bushes near the Endale Arch on August 4, not far from a cardboard box, said Chao, the online sleuth who helped rescue the rabbit and care for two others that had been part of the photo shoot. She and several other people used a pen with wire gates to help corral the bunnies.
Chao said she had also recognised the cardboard box from Sorokin's Instagram feed and that it also had a Yonkers address on it, possibly connecting it to the family who put the bunnies up for adoption. The most obvious giveaway, Chao said, was that someone who had worked on the shoot had earlier reached out to her to scout out available bunnies.
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After spending years looking to escape the pressures of city life, engineer Katja Boese and her partner found a property at Lenswood, in the Adelaide Hills, teeming with native wildlife. "Stalls are popping up a lot more in these sort of places because people are trying to support the smaller people, not the big companies." "There's a lot more people trying to become more self-sufficient out here," she says. Ms Frankish likes to think the stall, adorned with bright yellow bunting and sunflower motifs, helps keep the caravanning community connected through items made with homely care. The Evenindee Homestead farm stall, which sits next to a street library, sells plants, soap, wire art, craft, bath salts and dried flowers. Daneve Frankish's stall at Captain Creek was inspired by a two-year trip around Australia. (PR IMAGE PHOTO) "It was nice to be able to stop and support these little communities we were driving through," Ms Frankish, a part-time teacher's aide, says. The family's most memorable moments on the road included buying sourdough from a vintage fridge in Tasmania and swapping their kids' books at street libraries in countless country towns. Two years travelling around Australia with her young family prompted Daneve Frankish to establish her stall in Captain Creek, in Queensland's Gladstone region. "It's bringing people to our community that have also stopped around at the wineries and the brewery and all the other roadside stalls," she says. Social media posts that capture idyllic days in her kitchen and fertile vegetable patch have even helped lure visitors to town. Googies and Greens, which has more than 1000 followers on Instagram, allows Ms Rothe to work at her own pace while raising her children at home. Baked treats like focaccia, brownies, pinwheel biscuits and banana bread are stocked in pastel hand-painted eskies alongside jars of homemade pesto, dried herbs and pickles. 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The women's connection through flowers is the inspiration for her little roadside stall, The Blue Bee Market in Keith, a farming hub 230km southeast of Adelaide. A sunny spot in her backyard brims with cosmos, sunflowers, dahlias, billy buttons and zinnias in spring and summer, a reminder of her friend's late grandmother. All other regional websites in your area The digital version of Today's Paper All articles from our website & app Login or signup to continue reading Subscribe now for unlimited access. When Tiarna Smitheman couldn't find fresh flowers to comfort a bereaved friend, she grew her own. Louise Rothe's roadside goodies have sold so well she hasn't had to return to a previous job. Photo: PR IMAGE PHOTO Your digital subscription includes access to content from all our websites in your region. Access unlimited news content and The Canberra Times app. Premium subscribers also enjoy interactive puzzles and access to the digital version of our print edition - Today's Paper. 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