Selling Sunset's Heather Rae Young has found herself in hot water after sharing a series of photos of her Easter celebrations to Instagram.
Posting to the photo sharing app the reality TV star wrote: "Hope everyone had an amazing Easter. Swipe for a little Easter Sunday roundup!! Feeling so grateful that we got to spend the weekend with family."
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After posting the pics it wasn't long until the 34-year-old began to face criticism, and eventually she closed comments on the post.
Fans instead took to Reddit to express their confusion with the situation, with one writing: "As Heather is a VEGAN, I am surprised she didn’t foresee the hate."
A second added: "Sends a poor message and isn’t kind to the animal. Other celebrities did the same thing, I saw like 5 different people on insta that used bunnies as props."
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"In addition to using the rabbits as props, they’re also not holding them entirely properly. Rabbits have extremely fragile spines and you need to support their feet/butt and not let them dangle, as this puts strain on their back and can lead to them breaking," Wrote a third fan.
After the controversy broke Heather took to her Instagram stories to defend herself.
Heather wrote: “I can't believe I am having to defend myself but it was bought to my attention that there are lots of nasty comments about the bunnies....
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"Our whole family are animal lovers, I have been vegan for most of my life, I am very passionate about animals and am always an advocate for ALL animals!!
"We wanted a fun and cute experience for the kids, so did tons of research and found an amazing local bunny farm with an amazing mission that we wanted to support!”
She further added that the rabbits were sourced from Orange County Bunny Farm.
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Talking about the farm she added: "NO bunnies are forced to breed, they are all free range, never caged, live naturally on the farm and are extremely loved and cared for!
"They actually started their farm as a way to help treat and provide comfort for you children with disabilities particularly with autistic children.
"The bunnies are all raised organically and naturally. We felt comfortable supporting this amazing local little business, and also creating a fun experience for everyone!!"
She finished off her defence with: "Please refrain from judgement and negativity without knowing the full story. No need for all of the hate and nasty comments!"
Topics: Celebrity, Selling Sunset
Isobel Pankhurst