In late July, a young woman was called in to care for some rabbits and guinea pigs at the home of an acquaintance who was going out of town to buy, sell, and trade more of the same kinds of animals. When she arrived, she could not believe the conditions of neglect she saw there. She immediately consulted her mother, and they notified the authorities.

The two women in Clayton County, just outside of Atlanta, were charged with 87 counts of animal cruelty of twenty-four rabbits and sixty-three guinea pigs. Upon entry into Rose and Rhonda Aulicky's home, the animal control officers were confronted with crowded, dirty cages, in the bedroom, kitchen, and laundry rooms, animals sitting in copious amounts of waste, and crawling with maggots. Several deceased animals were also found in the premises. It was also discovered the women were feeding frozen hot dogs to the animals as their only sustenance, and there was no running water in the house. The women gave conflicting stories as to what their purpose of having so many animals. One claimed they were breeders, the other changed their story and said they were only holding and transporting them for friends.

Placed into Tupperware bins, the animals were transported to Clayton County Animal Control for holding. They were placed for safekeeping in a separate kennel, away from the frightening noise of barking dogs and hissing cats.

A couple of weeks after the animals were confiscated, the Wheeky Inn was contacted by a Georgia woman, asking for assistance in the care of the guinea pigs while they remained in county custody. The woman and other rabbit-knowledgable volunteers like her, were overwhelmed with the prospect of caring for so many animals, and needed to focus their volunteer efforts and attention on caring for the many sick and pregnant buns. The Wheeky Inn responded to her plea, and began to organize a care effort for the guinea pigs through a network of rescue contacts in Atlanta and the surrounding areas.

For the next few weeks, a huge commitment was made by both groups to feed, water, and provide necessary veterinary care for the animals. Many volunteers took time off from work to visit the facility, cleaning the bins the animals were housed in, transporting animals to vet clinics for needed care, photo IDing each animal and administering medication to all animals for the treatment of parasites. Even with the cooperation of animal control staff to order needed supplies for them, the large number of animals made it hard to keep up. Hundreds of dollars in supplies were bought and sent in by private parties around the nation to provide for the animals while in custody. Even with all of the attention and care from the rabbit volunteers, a few of the animals died in the first few days in their temporary home, some harboring respiratory infections, others from complicated births. It was decided they should be put in foster care with the volunteers in their homes, to receive specialized daily care, diet supplements, and medications.

Back in the legal realm, the Aulickys asked for a jury trial and the original plea hearing was canceled at the county level and the case was bumped up to the state court. In the interim, Rhonda Aulicky constructed a list of animals she allegedly was holding for other individuals. Those individuals later appeared at animal control with ownership papers and removed their animals from the facility.

A new hearing was set on October 8, 2003. The DA, looking for a quick release of the animals, offered a plea bargain. Rhonda would be allowed to plea guilty to animal trafficking without a license, and receive 2 years of probation, ownership of one animal (her Pomeranian dog), pay a fine of $400, have a mental health evaluation by the state, and had to surrender all of the confiscated animals to the custody of animal control. Arriving late at the courthouse in her night gown and slippers, she took the plea and the animal cruelty charges were dropped. All charges were dropped against Rose Aulicky due to her ill health and advancing age.

The next day, as the paperwork arrived from the courthouse, the rabbits were claimed by the North Georgia House Rabbit Society. The guinea pigs were claimed by one of Wheeky Inn's volunteers and put on transport to other rescues, or adopted to pre-screened families.