Urgent: Surrendered Rabbits Need Support

Puri Puri with donated supplies

Shelter and rescue groups are facing an influx of rabbit surrenders, the result of bunnies given as Easter presents to individuals who aren't prepared to properly care and provide for them. As many as 80-95% of rabbits gifted on Easter don't survive their first year. Sadly, this preventable crisis repeats itself every year.

Making the situation even worse, rabbits are often overlooked when it comes to assistance provided to animal shelters... even though thousands of bunnies are rescued each year. 

Rescued bunnies frequently come to shelters with unmet medical needs or malnutrition and almost always need to be spayed or neuters. These veterinary costs can pile up. 

Beyond that, rescue groups need specialized food and supplies to care for rabbits. Rabbits' teeth never stop growing, requiring chew toys that wear the teeth down while also providing enrichment. They need timothy hay, high-fiber pellets, fresh bedding, litter boxes, hideouts, and safe enclosures designed specifically for rabbits. Many rescued bunnies also require grooming tools, nail clippers, heating pads, fleece blankets, and critical care feeding formula for sick or underweight rabbits. Shelters often struggle to keep enough water bottles, food dishes, carriers, and exercise pens on hand to properly care for the growing number of surrendered animals. 

Help us give these shelters everything they need to provide safe shelter, proper nutrition, comfort, and lifesaving care for rescued and surrendered rabbits.

Impactful Stories

From our Friends at Houston Humane Society: "Our Pets for Life program helps families who need low-cost veterinary care and pet supplies. One day, our Pets for Life Specialist Adriana, visited a family and found out they had over 50 rabbits! The family gave us 10 rabbits to take care of. When we went back another time, they gave us 24 more rabbits. Out of those, 12 were going to have babies! We had to care for even more baby bunnies. Our teams provided urgent medical care to new moms to be while getting the rest of the batch neutered. These sweet bunnies became favorites, and many of them found loving new homes. We continue to receive bunnies through various rescue efforts and thanks to your generosity we are able to care for them."

One of the difficulties of being an animal welfare organization, like Kitsap Humane Society, that prides itself on being “more than a shelter” is providing enough enrichment activities for its myriad animals.  But what to do with bunnies when dogs and cats get most of the attention? Rabbits need fun just as much as the others. To that end, we make sure that the bunnies in our care get “hop time” outside of their kennels every day before the shelter opens. Our rabbits had an even better time than usual because of a donation of tunnels that we arranged around our lobby. For hours, our rabbits were treated to a colorful maze of tunnels, where they could explore – taking “hop time” to wonderful new levels. Thank you!

When any small animal enters Florida Keys SPCA care, they are tasked with the difficulty of finding it a forever home. Due to the area having a lower population it can mean that the rabbits are at the facility for a while. Volunteers play a huge part in socializing our bunnies to keep them mentally, physically and socially engaged. However, when the rabbits are provided with enrichment items, like the Large Grass Tunnel for Critters that was donated, they are able to fulfill their enrichment needs on their own, keeping them adoptable for when their family does finally come. Here is Clover checking out her new toy.

Archie just had surgery and loved this little hide hut that kept him feeling safe and comfortable.