Zoötopia
Considering an alternate headcanon to make #Zootopia a bit less problematical for me, in which Bellwether's scheme arises from frustration with the state's callous treatment of citizens who've been done for some minor offence. She befriends the sheep who wind up carrying out the Nighthowler crimes because she had once tried to help them find a livelihood after their conviction for petty crimes only to find that Zoötopia has no place for them now.
Zoötopia
I propose that the first couple of victims of the crisis weren't Bellwether's doing but accidental poisonings. The incompetent Lionheart dealt with the problem in a strictly punitive way, locking the patients up away from the public eye because his sole concern was of maintaining a superficial appearance of calm and order. But probing into the first cases is how Bellwether discovers the cause, hence prompting her to start plotting the embarrassment of the mayor and the police.
