Our latest welfare case
You may have heard about the big welfare cases involving 250 doodles or the 200 pomeranians or even the 100 rabbits dumped in the woods. In fact, you may be reading the continual reports of hoarding and multi animal neglect cases and thinking - what is going on?
In the UK, the RSPCA has recorded a massive 70% increase in large-scale "multi-animal incidents" (cases involving 10 or more animals in a single home).
When it comes to rabbits often one of the biggest causes for these types of cases is that breeding quickly gets out of control. What starts as 2 original rabbits purchased quickly turns into 50 rabbits due to missexing. When this happens, the conditions the rabbits live in is not set up or suitable for so many rabbits and this results in deaths and disease. Or in some cases, attempts to escape.
We were called to help a family who had found themselves in this situation. A pair of male rabbits, one was killed by a predator. They purchased a new rabbit from pets at home, told it was "male". She wasn't.
The female, who is less than 1 year then had many litters back to back. The adult rabbits were breeding and escaping. Older litters growing up, escaped too. During the females time "free" running around she also mated with a wild rabbit, resulting in a litter of half wild babies. Many rabbits did not survive and sadly some were killed by predators.
After weeks of setting up wildlife cams and doing capture missions, we now have this large family of rabbits in our care.
In the UK, the RSPCA has recorded a massive 70% increase in large-scale "multi-animal incidents" (cases involving 10 or more animals in a single home).
When it comes to rabbits often one of the biggest causes for these types of cases is that breeding quickly gets out of control. What starts as 2 original rabbits purchased quickly turns into 50 rabbits due to missexing. When this happens, the conditions the rabbits live in is not set up or suitable for so many rabbits and this results in deaths and disease. Or in some cases, attempts to escape.
We were called to help a family who had found themselves in this situation. A pair of male rabbits, one was killed by a predator. They purchased a new rabbit from pets at home, told it was "male". She wasn't.
The female, who is less than 1 year then had many litters back to back. The adult rabbits were breeding and escaping. Older litters growing up, escaped too. During the females time "free" running around she also mated with a wild rabbit, resulting in a litter of half wild babies. Many rabbits did not survive and sadly some were killed by predators.
After weeks of setting up wildlife cams and doing capture missions, we now have this large family of rabbits in our care.
Their Story
It all began with a pets at home purchase....
We were made aware of pet rabbits escaping locally. Then things began to escalate. There were daily reports, requests for help, things were getting out of control. Baby bunnies, rabbits dying, predator attacks.
The mother rabbit, only a baby herself was doing everything she could to escape. At less than a year old, already many litters born. Some domestic, some half wild. In the time she was running "free", she had been chased by dogs, people and birthed more rabbits. She was running onto main roads, becoming more fearful, faster and harder to catch.
She wasn't the only rabbit running. The male, also escaped and running free. We were told by locals there were up to 30 rabbits. Two things needed to happen: the rabbits running loose needed caught. And the remaining rabbits at the property needed rescued. No easy task, lots of planning.
Our team began the capture mission, setting up wildlife cams, receiving sightings from people in the area and preparing to drop everything when the time was right. The mother was the first priority to prevent more births, but she was covering up to 3 miles in the area and was determined not to be caught. It took 18 hours to get her, but we managed.
"She's pregnant". The first words as we examined her. Skinny, but lactating, and ready to pop.
When we arrived at the property to get her other 6 babies, we didn't know if she would accept them again. But she did, and she allowed them immediately to cuddle and suckle. There was also another male hiding, from a previous litter, around 14-16 weeks old.
Our team went onto capture the other rabbits who were still alive. A total of 10 rabbits plus more on the way. All are highly anxious, fearful and scared. Barely moving out of their hides in the first week.
We did not plan or prepare to take these rabbits in. As a non profit rescue, we have a finite amount of resources for rabbits we take in and we had already allocated our spaces this month to other rabbits we took in. However we couldn't step in and prevent further suffering. This is why we need your help.
It will cost us approximately £3000 to neuter and vaccinate these rabbits. They will go through around 20kg of feed, 1 bale of hay and 2 bales of bedding each week. They need enrichment, things to chew and Pet Remedy to ease their stress.
If you can help, please donate. Please share their story.
We were made aware of pet rabbits escaping locally. Then things began to escalate. There were daily reports, requests for help, things were getting out of control. Baby bunnies, rabbits dying, predator attacks.
The mother rabbit, only a baby herself was doing everything she could to escape. At less than a year old, already many litters born. Some domestic, some half wild. In the time she was running "free", she had been chased by dogs, people and birthed more rabbits. She was running onto main roads, becoming more fearful, faster and harder to catch.
She wasn't the only rabbit running. The male, also escaped and running free. We were told by locals there were up to 30 rabbits. Two things needed to happen: the rabbits running loose needed caught. And the remaining rabbits at the property needed rescued. No easy task, lots of planning.
Our team began the capture mission, setting up wildlife cams, receiving sightings from people in the area and preparing to drop everything when the time was right. The mother was the first priority to prevent more births, but she was covering up to 3 miles in the area and was determined not to be caught. It took 18 hours to get her, but we managed.
"She's pregnant". The first words as we examined her. Skinny, but lactating, and ready to pop.
When we arrived at the property to get her other 6 babies, we didn't know if she would accept them again. But she did, and she allowed them immediately to cuddle and suckle. There was also another male hiding, from a previous litter, around 14-16 weeks old.
Our team went onto capture the other rabbits who were still alive. A total of 10 rabbits plus more on the way. All are highly anxious, fearful and scared. Barely moving out of their hides in the first week.
We did not plan or prepare to take these rabbits in. As a non profit rescue, we have a finite amount of resources for rabbits we take in and we had already allocated our spaces this month to other rabbits we took in. However we couldn't step in and prevent further suffering. This is why we need your help.
It will cost us approximately £3000 to neuter and vaccinate these rabbits. They will go through around 20kg of feed, 1 bale of hay and 2 bales of bedding each week. They need enrichment, things to chew and Pet Remedy to ease their stress.
If you can help, please donate. Please share their story.