United Airlines In The News Again As Maybe World’s Biggest Rabbit, Simon, Dies On Flight [UPDATE]


**UPDATE** The giant bunny, Simon, died in a Boeing 767 on the way to Chicago’s O’Hare airport. He was purchased by Bryan Bergdale a farmland investment manager for Steve Bruere, the owner of a large real estate investment company in Iowa. Bergdale said they were hoping to show Simon in the Iowa State Fair.

“We’d built a pen and had toys all ready. It’s sort of a sad deal,” he said. “We’re still in the mourning process. We’re not quite sure what we’re going to do.”

United Airlines can’t seem to make the news in a positive way, as Monday night, there was a death on a flight from the U.K. to Chicago. The deceased is Simon, a giant bunny from England belonging to a breeder named Annette Edwards. And Simon was not just any bunny. At 10 months, he was on his way to being the biggest rabbit in the world. Simon’s father, Darius, is four-foot four inches and 50 pounds.

United Airlines is already having the PR month from hell, but the death of Simon the rabbit makes it worse. It seems that Annette Edwards was on her way to bring Simon to his new owner, a so far unnamed celebrity in the United States (Lisa Vanderpump, is this your bunny?).

Annette Edwards, of Worcester, was flying from London to O’Hare airport in Chicago (really, O’Hare). Edwards says that Simon was fine when they checked him in his flying crate, but when the plane landed in Chicago, Simon was dead. According to United Airlines, Simon flew in the cargo bay of the plane, but there is no word on whether there were any other animals on the flight.

Simon the bunny’s father, Darius, is large, but considering Simon’s size at 10 months, Annette Edwards believes he would have been larger. According to Edwards, the giant bunnies cost about $6k to raise, and she sells babies at $640 a piece.


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In order to get the permit to fly from England to the United States, Annette Edwards had to take Simon the giant bunny in for a check up, and according to the vet, Simon was in great shape.

“Simon had a vet’s check-up three hours before the flight and was fit as a fiddle.”

Simon was possibly on his way into the Guinness Book of World Records, but now we will never know. United Airlines has released a statement, saying that they are saddened by the death of Simon.

“The safety and wellbeing of all the animals that travel with us is of the utmost importance to United Airlines and our PetSafe team. We have been in contact with our customer and have offered assistance. We are reviewing this matter.”

Ironically, the recent event when Dr. David Dao was dragged off a flight also happened at O’Hare airport.

The Daily Mail says that it is thought that Simon the bunny died mid-flight, perhaps somewhere over the Atlantic, aboard a United Airlines flight that originated at Heathrow airport in England. According to Annette Edwards, Simon, like his father Darius, was a Continental Giant rabbit.

Edwards, the owner of Simon and Darius from Stoulton in Worcester, is understandably devastated, as he was happy and healthy when she last saw him at the United Airlines check-in. Edwards believes that something must have gone wrong on the United flight, and she wants to get to the bottom of it. She says that Simon saw the vet just hours before she headed to the airport.

“Something very strange has happened and I want to know what. I’ve sent rabbits all around the world and nothing like this has happened before. The client who bought Simon is very famous. He’s upset.”

Annette Edwards is a former model who is best known for spending over $10k on plastic surgery to transform herself into a real-life Jessica Rabbit, the femme fatale cartoon character from the film Who Killed Roger Rabbit?

Do you think that funny business killed Simon the bunny on the United Airlines flight?

[Featured Image by Sean Gallup/Getty Images]

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