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When is enough, enough?

S

somebun

Young Bun
I have kept rabbits for many years and know other people who keep them too, now I have kept rescues, pet shop ones, breeders ones and unwanted pets and had a few 'naughty' ones along the way... But I have just found out that my friend has had one of her rescues put to sleep as he has badly bitten her and her mum, leaving deep wounds and he did this more than once and with no provocation, she really was upset as she loves her buns... I'm not sure I could do it, but she said what was the alternative? What do you think?
 
I certainly dont agree with putting a rabbit to sleep because it is aggressive, buns are like humans and will not like everyone. A change of owner is ofter more appropriate than putting the animal to sleep.

There are many questions to be asked, was the bun neutered, if it wasnt it is worth doing as it will help reduce the hormone levels and the agression may settle. Had the rabbit been vet checked to see if there is a problem, sick rabbits are more likely to be aggressive particuarly if they are in pain. The situations of the circumstances prior to them biting needs to be looked .... there are so many issues which need to be considered ....
 
My aggressive bun has mellowed with age! He has left me with some horrible scars inflicted without provocation, and lots of people suggested i have him put to sleep :shock: (no one on here ) but now he is the cuddliest rabbit I have!
 
Its an awful feeling when you can't go near your bun but being PTS really shouldn't be an option.

My bun has left me with deep and i mean deep bites and scars. The last bite he actually took a chunk of flesh off and I have an identation now.

I brought lots of books about behaviour issues and I did rehome him once but life was weird without him so we got him back.

I have found out that these types of bunnies are highly intelligent and expect more to do. I have created lots of things for him to do like a dig box where he digs for pellets, and jumps etc.

He is still nasty but I am learning his body language and as long as I am always on the ball I think it'll be ok.
 
I would have tried to find out if it there was something wrong medically with the bun before giving up on it or even just worked with it and wore gardening gloves to show I wasn't frightened of it. I have 2 NZ that bite me at every opportunity and one of them really sinks her teeth into me, I have scars to prove it but there is know way I would have them pts for this. These to have been neutered so it isn't hormonal it is just their character I think.
 
I had a skitzo nethi once, and I wore protective clothing! :lol: I wouldn't pts unless it was clear the reason for the biting was clear mental distress that was constant for the rabbit and it had no quality of life, that it was mad basically.
 
i personally absloutely and utterly would never put a bun to sleep because of aggresiveness. i have a rescue bun - Pebbles - who is extremely vicious around her food and when i feed her ( i can only imagine she had been starving in her previous home ). she is an absolute demon and i am very cautious around her but i will persevere and hopefully she will calm down eventually. if she doesnt ever calm down, i will continue with the gloves whenever i have to handle her!!! :lol:
 
I would never give up on a bunny so easily, i have scars from a certain rabbit, a standard orange rex named cracker, but i worked with him, and he became as affectionate as any other and now has a new mummy who spoils him!!
 
I wouldn't put a rabbit to sleep just because it bit, it may not have been in physical pain but as a rescue may have been in mental pain instead. We had a rescue rabbit a few years ago, she had been found dumped, with a broken leg and covered in cigarette burns. She had been taken in by a rescue and had been there for 5 years before we were asked to take her, and even after all that time we couldn't pick her upwithout being bitten, we had to wear thick padded jackets and gloves to protect ourselves. She was called Psycho when we got her, we renamed her Rosie and started handling her, she wasn't handled much while in the rescue. We had her for 2 years before she died, and by then we could pick her up with bare hands and a t-shirt, I have to say, most of it was Mike's work.
Certainly, when you take on any rescue animals it means you are taking on an unknown quantity and many are aggressive through fear caused by bad handling, a humans fault not theirs!
 
i would never put an agressive animal to sleep.. i would work out what I am doing wrong and fix my behaviour so that the animal becomes peaceful or take safety precautions knowing my pet will savage me and make sure it doesnt get the chance to inflict damage..

it really upsets me that an animal gets the blame cus us humans cant read the language of that particular species :cry::cry::cry::cry:
 
Well why not think of it this way: If you can't get near your rabbit how are you going to make sure its claws don't get too long or to make sure its healthy? I've had an aggresive rabbit and for a while I did consider putting her to sleep, as there was really no "joy" in keeping her anymore, I could hardly touch her when she was in her worst moods, and its not very nice on the rabbit either to let it sit in it's hutch all day with growing claws, getting food thrown trhough the bars. I had to chase Zakura into a transport cage only to move her in and out of her run.
Luckily my rabbit got nicer after neutering (Despite everything I couldn't bare to let her go) but her brother got pts, another got rehomed (I didn't own these)
 
zakurarabbit, I take your point from a welfare view, Inky can be very challenging to pick up and I do avoid it but I think putting an animal to sleep has to be a last reort really, particularly for behavioural reasons.

I couldn't do it, I'd just have to accept that it wasn't going to be a cuddley rabbit but then most rabbits aren't.
 
I also think that maybe something as simple as a different owner can make a big difference. If I had a pound for the times someone has said to me 'they bite' or 'we can't handle them', I'd be rich! Then when you take the bunny, it's as good as gold. I think it often has something to do with the 'aura' that the handler has.

I truly believe that there is always a way round a situation, even if it means towel wrapping to do teeth and nail checks or wearing gauntlets.

I would never give up on a bunny because they bite. I have one young lady here who bites without warning but then can be as soft as butter. I accept this and will deal with it for as long as it takes.

PTS is not an option in my book.:cry:
 
you do get psycho bunnies that attack for apparently no reason, which is why I dithered ages about getting rabbits as I'm a big wuss when it comes to pain. Even after 3 years with my sweet bunnies, I still wear full body armour with them - always wear gloves when feeding them, always wear wellies, always wear a thick coat when handling them, cutting nails etc. I just assume they will bite me, prepare myself suitably, and so far they never have, because they can't find a bit of bare flesh to bite :lol:

I respect my bunnies, and honestly think it's such a shame to have a healthy animal PTS just because you are scared of it - If I had a demon bunny that had a clean bill of health and was neutered, I would just dress appropriately and try to make it happy and comfortable - there's no law says they must like humans or die :roll:
 
As I said not sure I would do it, but she never hurt him, she respected his space, but he had to be cleaned out, nails clipped etc...
 
This is a tough one, I believe in dangerous dogs being pts as it must be horrible for the poor animals to have to live it's life like that.

But rabbits are not like dogs, they are flight not fight creatures. i think changing the buns situation is the first thing to do, change owner etc

I think only pts for any animal if it's life is certainly comprimised by it's behaviour and it lives a less than adequte quality of life.

x
 
Is it not illegal for a vet to put to sleep a healthy animal? :cry: How awful, I really didnt think it was allowed! If you get a pet and dont like its behaviour they should have at least tried to find a new home, not just put the poor bunny to sleep :cry:
 
sillyrabbit said:
Is it not illegal for a vet to put to sleep a healthy animal? :cry: How awful, I really didnt think it was allowed! If you get a pet and dont like its behaviour they should have at least tried to find a new home, not just put the poor bunny to sleep :cry:
Click to expand...

No it's not illegal.....sadly happens all the time in pounds etc.... but Im sure they have the right to refuse, so someone said on another thread yesterday anyway.
 
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