6:30am sunday morning wake up call stray bunny on the street.

I woke up sunday morning to a banging on my front door looked at the clock 6:30am on a sunday morning the banging cant be good. I went to the door and one of the neighbors said a stray bunny was under a car (being the local bunny owner the area think its my problem :lol::lol: not that i mind in the slightest) Anyway went out to a terrified bunny that was trying to climb into the engine to avoid being caught. Eventually i managed to grab it smeared with oil and one of the worst cases of sticky bum i have ever seen.
The bunny had obviously been loose for two or three days and it has been terrential rain here.
So my dilema is this and i have told the rspca who agreed to let me keep hold onto the bunny instead of it being sent to a rescue, animal wardens, local vets (and i took it to the vets yesterday to make sure all was well as i was concerned about its water consumption amongst smaller things) Pdsa as well as the pet shops and places to try and reunite its owner .
The bunny has become quite attached to me know to the point where i have spent the last two nights sleeping on the sofa with it (I know that was a bad mistake) because it makes the most awful noise when i leave it, but stops as soon as come back into the room.

1, If no owner comes forward can i legally keep the bunny. As i have grown quite attached to it or will i have to hand it over to rspca or similar establishment.
2, If the owner does come forward would i be ok to ask for the vets bill reimbursed or is that just not on as it was my decision to take it to the vets.
3, Should i carry on letting it have free range of the house just incase the owner turns up and dosnt allow the bunny free range then i think it would be sad for it to be locked in its hutch again all day or would it easily get over that.
4 Has anyone got any suggestions on how i can wean this bunny of me as i cant go anywhere without tripping over the little rascal and as soon as i sit down plate of food on my knee or not the bunny is there knocking the food away and sitting snug in my lap or across my shoulders.

bless wish my bunny loved me like that he must be s grateful, personally if the owners turned up id want to check that he was suitable to go back i know it sounds nasty but why distress him even more?

sorry im no help :? xXx

aw my gawd if your that attached if the owner did turn up i would want to know that it would be carefully looked after, i do not see any harm in asking for the vet fee, as if it was me who had lost an animal and had got in a state i would be very gratefull that someone has taken the time to look after it, but thats me some people might not, as i have learnt through the years animals can travel quite far, and even get carried in cars, my mums cat decided to hide in the engine and she took it to work how it didnt get hurt i dont know (but it was fine btw) so you could put up notices saying rabbit found with your no,(i.e post offices newsagents etc) on tear off strips dont describe it though get the person ringing to describe it so you know its theres, have you tried ringing other vets in your area to see if anyone has gone in claiming a lost bun. im not sure on your legal rights, dont the rspca keep found animals for 6 months and if not claimed they can go back to the founder if they want to keep them, im not sure on that,
sleeping with the bun has been your downfall :lol: it obviously doesnt like being alone and could of had a friend before it got lost, but then it could of been dumped too

good luck in what you decide to do

areia said:

so you could put up notices saying rabbit found with your no,(i.e post offices newsagents etc) on tear off strips dont describe it though get the person ringing to describe it so you know its theres, have you tried ringing other vets in your area to see if anyone has gone in claiming a lost bun. im not sure on your legal rights, dont the rspca keep found animals for 6 months

good luck in what you decide to do

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Hiya,
The RSPCA have agreed to let me keep the bun until the owner is found, I just dont know what they will want to do if no owner surfaces. I have put up notices already as you suggested but i like the idea of the tear off strips that i didnt think of doing.
I will also tell the owner if found that i will the bring the bunny to them and checkout things while im there, would do it that way just to avoid confrontation because for all we know the bunny could have been very well looked after and just managed to slip away when a door was opened.

You have to make reasonable efforts to reunite lost property with the owner. Might be an idea to give the local police station a call and get it logged as found lost property so there's a record. I don't think there is a set period for rabbits for how long you have to keep it but two weeks or so would probably be okay. No, it doesn't have to go to a rescue first.

Yes, it would probably be reasonable to ask for reimbursement for any necessary treatment. You couldn't ask for something like vaccs though.

Getting it a friend would probably help keep it from under your toes. Bunnies are social and when there aren't any other bunnies to hang out with then you've been claimed instead :lol:

Thanks for that info Tamsin.
It never even crossed my mind to tell the police either.
I have so far kept it away from the other buns just in case it has something and i planned on letting it mix on saturday. The vet said its all ok so what would anyone else do? should let it mix with my other buns now or wait a few more days?.

Rabbits need to be introduced somewhere neutral or they may fight. I'd wait two weeks to give an opportunity for any illnesses to show. Is it a boy or a girl? A boy would need neutering before mixing and a girl would be an idea to wait 4 weeks to rule out pregnancy

I think you are doing all you can to find owner.

Just a thought to Put it on lost and found on main section too, you never know.:wave::wave:

Jettychops said:

I think you are doing all you can to find owner.

Just a thought to Put it on lost and found on main section too, you never know.:wave::wave:

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Thanks for your reply
I emailed to have it put on that section on sunday but its not on there yet.

Jason, Have you informed the RSPCA or are you talking about our chat on Sunday:? If the owner comes forward then you have to give it back but normally after 7days we normally start the ball rolling for neutering and vaccs (when I say we I mean Bolton RSPCA). What area was it found in, in Bolton as I have been informed that someone in Horwich as lost a white rabbit(they think it is a lop). Did the RSPCA tell you to take it to the vets? if not ring me.

Pm'd you Kay