Rescuing Bunnies...
Did you know that in the UK, there are over 33,000 bunnies in rescues? This is because of people, breeding, and buying bunnies in Pet Shops! People walk into a pet shop, and see this cute little bunny, and I know it is hard to walk awaym but if you buy these Pet Shop bunnies, it will encourage the shop to keep selling...
So, we set up this page to try and cange your minds about where to get your bunny from, there are hundreds of rescues all over Britain, and in every one, probably has a bunny, looking for a loving home!
Here are a few stories, of Bunnies who have been adopted by loving Mummies and Daddies:
Poppy's Story- From Louise and Gus
It was about 2 years ago when I first met Poppy. I had adopted Gus from Briar Patch Rescue a few weeks earlier, and had to go back and choose a girlfriend for him. Eve, the lady who ran Briar Patch told me the had a black lionhead in, but she had some “issues”
Poppy was originally bought as a present for a 2yr old child, she had been kept in a hutch in the child’s bedroom, and she had been treated like a cuddly toy! This had made her very scared of been taken out of the hutch and also aggressive. She was handed in when she bit the child.
So I go to the rescue to meet her, first off she bites me when I try and stroke her in the hutch and was making so much noise, almost barking. Eve takes her out of the hutch and put her in the run, I sat with her a while and even managed a stroke. At this point Eve’s young daughter came over and said “I’m not allowed to touch that rabbit, that’s the one that makes Mummy bleed” By this point I felt so sorry for Poppy I knew I had to have her…who else would, and I could always wear gloves.
The next day I went back to the rescue with Gus for the bonding. It went well, and the next day I took home the newly bonded pair to live as house rabbits in my spare room, now the bunny room.
At first Poppy was scared and thumped when we went near, but we sat with her and she saw Gus coming to us for fuss (and food) soon she was joining him, gradually she stopped the growling and grunting and would let us stroke her. Now she is the most affectionate bunny I have ever met, she loves a fuss and will snuggle up on the sofa with us. She seem to have a special bond with my partner Dave, she will always go to him and gets excited when she hears his keys in the door.
I am so glad I took a chance on her and the transformation is amazing, she just needed a bit of security and love. She still gets scared if she hears children shouting, but overall she is a happy bunny.
Hazel and Bella's Story- From Casu Consulto
At the beginning of November I was browsing FreeAds (always dangerous), and searching for listings of rabbits in my local area. There was an ad placed, stating it was only three miles away from me, and the bunny was listed as 'a pregnant Holland Lop doe'. For about a day I agonized over this, letting it bug me, because I really did not believe a pregnant animal, but especially a rabbit, ought to be sold when in that condition. Also, in the ad, the 'owner' had said that she "would be good for a breeder". The thought of some pregnant rabbit not only being sold like that, but being used as anyone who thought it'd be a great idea to breed bunnies 'using' her really bugged me. So I created a topic asking for advice on the Rabbit Chat, on here...
Richard (mullethead on RU) contacted me and arranged to go and collect her. Elaine, who runs the Tameside Rabbit & Guinea Pig Rescue offered to take the doe and find her and her babies new homes. The bunny was brought here and for one night she stayed in my shed, and the next day we took her to Elaine's. On Richard's request, she was named Hazel. Whilst at Elaine's she had her litter. She was very protective of her nest, and we didn't know how many kits she had produced - just that one had died, because Elaine found and removed it. Despite only having had her a day, I'd grown very attached to Hazel and asked if I could adopt her, intending to bond her into a trio with my original pair. I asked Elaine if she could 'save' Hazel for me, and if I could adopt her after she had weaned her litter and been spayed. It was then that I found out that Hazel only had one surviving baby. I'm not sure if this is because the rest of her litter died, or if this was due to the stress of being moved around so much. But we were told, when we went to collect them, that the people at the rescue thought she had been overbred before being sold.
I couldn't have separated Hazel and her one baby - the surviving kit was - is - a girly bun, who we named Bella. So Hazel got to keep her last baby. And now they both live here, and Bella shall be spayed soon. I think, if they had gone to someone who wanted to breed bunnies, as suggested by Hazel's previous 'owner', then both of them would perhaps have been used as baby bunny making machines.
