NEWPORT schoolchildren who were left heartbroken after their school’s pet rabbits were viciously killed now have new ones after the community rallied round for them.

Last month, staff at Monnow Primary School found animals they had agreed to look after only two months before mauled in their hutch. Teachers said they suspect it had been carried out by people who allowed dogs to kill the animals.

Now the Bettws school has two new additions, dwarf rabbits Georgia and Mildred - and a new hutch after the other was left badly damaged in the attack.

Year 5 and 6 teacher Lewis Allcock, said of the incident: “The children were coming into the school and we had to make sure no one could see. If the caretaker had not have gone past they could have been discovered by the children. Everyone was in shock that someone could think of doing that, especially in a school.

“We were so appalled because the rabbits were just left mauled.”

But he added the children’s mood has now changed with Georgia and Mildred’s arrival.

“The children are over the moon," he added. "As part of their work they have been designing little things that they can put with the rabbits.”

The rabbits were donated by Debra Keylock, grandmother of five-year-old Emily Davies, who is in reception at the school.

Kellie Williams organised a collection box in High Definition Beauty in Bettws, and within a week £200 had been raised – enough to buy a new hutch, bottles, bowls and hay.

She said her daughter Raya, seven, was particularly happy her efforts were recognised in a school newsletter.

“It was brilliant how everyone come together to help,” Ms Williams added.

She said it was upsetting to see how upset children were by the incident though.

“They obviously do not know the real extent of how the rabbits died," she said. "I think the teachers told them they were ill but then they saw the blood.

“I was devastated for the kids because they loved the rabbits.”

Cllr Kevin Whitehead, who represents Bettws on Newport council, said of the way people had come together for the school: “It’s absolutely fabulous. It puts Bettws in a good light. "It proves when people come together they can do good.”

Gwent Police said anyone with information on the attack at the school can call 101 and quote log number 81 8/5/15.