Grant Rodgers

The Des Moines Register

The owners of a 3-foot giant rabbit that died last month following a United Airlines flight from London are demanding an independent investigation into the death and calling on the airline to change its procedures for transporting animals.

Simon, a Continental Giant rabbit, was purchased by an Iowa-based ownership group with hopes that he could win the Iowa State Fair's biggest rabbit contest in August and be used to help raise money for the fair and its Blue Ribbon Foundation.

But the giant rabbit was found dead following a United flight from London to Chicago.

Des Moines trial attorney Guy Cook announced at a press conference on Monday that the owners are demanding an independent investigation into Simon's death. Cook cited news reports based on anonymous sourcing that said Simon may have been inadvertently locked in a freezer before he was scheduled to board a connecting flight to Kansas City. That claim that was reported in the Daily Mail tabloid and other media outlets.

A United spokesperson called the claim "completely false" in an email.

United also had the rabbit was cremated following its death without the permission of the owners, making an autopsy to determine what exactly happened impossible, Cook said. That action by the airline was tantamount to "destroying evidence" in the case, he said.

"It's circumstantial proof that there was something wrong here that they cremated the remains of Simon without the consent of the ownership group or the breeder who provided the rabbit to the owners," Cook said. "United Airlines has essentially done nothing to demonstrate objectively what actually happened here. They've had scant interaction with the ownership group."

Cook said that the attorneys are asking United to provide video from a closed-circuit camera inside the facility where Simon was held that could provide more clues as to what happened. Simon was expected to surpass his father in length and take "world's largest rabbit" title himself within "a few short months," Cook said.

In an email, United spokesman Charles Hobart said that Simon arrived in Chicago at 10:25 a.m. and was seen moving in his crate about a half-hour later. A short time later, an employee found the rabbit motionless and determined he had died. At the time, Simon was being kept in a PetSafe kennel facility kept at 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

"The assertion that Simon died in a freezer is completely false," he said.

Hobart also directed a reporter to the website of British rabbit breeder Annette Edwards, who owns Simon's four-foot long father, Darius, the current world's biggest rabbit. Edwards wrote in a recent statement, "United Airlines has been in regular contact with me regarding the sad death of Simon the Rabbit and that the matter has been resolved to my satisfaction."

At the press conference, Cook said a retired pilot has brought forward multiple other possible situations that could have caused the death, including that pilots may not have been told an animal was loaded on the plane and therefore not activated a higher temperature selection for the bulk cargo compartment.

The ownership group is demanding the airline to pay for the purchase price of the rabbit, shipping costs and the "economic loss" caused by the rabbit's death. The owners anticipated that Simon's status as world's largest rabbit could be used as a fundraising tool to help the state fair, Cook said.

The demand letter gives United seven days to respond before a lawsuit is filed. The ownership group is also asking the airline to re-evaluate its procedure of flying animals in the cargo holds of its airplanes.

After Simon's death Edwards initially told the Sun newspaper that Simon had a check-up with a vet three hours before the April 19 flight and was “fit as a fiddle.”

“Something very strange has happened and I want to know what,” Edwards told the newspaper. “I’ve sent rabbits all around the world and nothing like this has happened before.”

The rabbit’s death added to the airlines’ headaches last month: United was widely criticized after video was made public of a 69-year-old passenger being dragged off a flight at Chicago O’Hare International to make room for a crew member.

PETA has criticized United, saying the rabbit's death "is not unique." It said "more than 300 animals have died in cargo holds since 2005, and many more have been been injured or lost."

"We think that the importance of this case and his death goes beyond the life of one single giant rabbit, but reflects a practice by United that needs to be changed," Cook said.

The rabbit's three main owners were retired Wells Fargo executive Mark Oman, People's Co. president Steve Breure and Benning Financial partner Duke Reichardt.