Neighbours have gone away and nobody is looking after the rabbits

My neighbours went on holiday (camping and not sure if only for a few days) and have left there rabbits. They went yesterday afternoon and are still not back and nobody has been to the rabbits. There are only a few houses in my street and we know everyone and today we have all been asking eachother who is looking after the rabbits. I have just been round and given them some grass as only straw in the run, given hay as they had none and given fresh water as the bottles were quite full but needed changing. I cant believe them they know i have rabbits and would have lookied after them no problem at all. Even if they come back tomorrow the rabbits will have been left since sunday afternoon

Thats a bit silly in this heat! are you sure they wont mind you going into their garden and giving the rabbits hay and stuff?

I would report to the RSPCA to be honest.

They are some stupid people:evil::evil:
Glad you went to see to them.

monkeypuzzler said:

I would report to the RSPCA to be honest.

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So would I - if everyone in the street is asking about them, there's no reason they'd necessarily suspect it was you either. Poor buns, people just don't seem to realise :?

They live in an upstairs flat and my other neighbour lives downstairs and i am watering her plants while she is away. The garden is shared so can't help but notice the rabbits really. If not back tomorrow will call RSPCA and will speak with them as on the RSPCA website it says

It is a criminal offence to leave any animal without making proper arrangements for his or her welfare.

They sound pretty useless

Well done btw for looking after them and keeping an eye out

You could leave them an annonymus note on the door or something, telling them that you looked after the buns while they were gone, that next time they really need to have someone looking after them, and tell them that it is a criminal offence to leave them like that. Tell them if it happens again, you will report it to the RSPCA.


just my oppinion. not everyone is as well educated as the people on this forum, and perhaps they thought the buns would be okay? i know it wounds silly to us, but to the unecperienced owner, they might have thought it was okay?
Maybe they didnt know someone to look after them, or were too shy to ask, you could tell them that you would look after them if needed again.

I'd try the softly, softly approach first i.e. ask if they've had a good holiday especially with the weather being scorching etc. This leads nicely onto saying that you popped in on the buns and gave them water and hay and how they lapped and gobbled it up. They obviously thought they'd done enough by filling the bottles but you could point out how hot the water was and undrinkable.

I'd add an offer of help along the lines of "I'm happy to look after them when you go away, it's no trouble as I'm popping in to water the plants". This should make them feel slightly guilty that they made provisions for their plants but not the buns.

Also they might have asked a family friend or someone to check on the buns and that person hasn't showed and the family whose buns they are aren't aware of it.

Bun Bun said:

Also they might have asked a family friend or someone to check on the buns and that person hasn't showed and the family whose buns they are aren't aware of it.

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I was thinking the same thing. Poor buns

A few months ago I went to Brighton for 2 nights. I asked my cousin to come and feed the buns and the cats. She agreed, so I showed her what to do with the buns and how much food to give etc. When I got home all the food was still in the bags on the table where I left it, the buns had no hay or water:shock: I was so angry. She didn't even say sorry, just said she was ill and couldn't do it! The cats went mad when I fed them, they were so hungry.
She could have sent her husband or one of the kids round, they only live a few doors away, but no she just forgot about them! (rant over )

am sure nobody has been round and i think their parents live quite far away. As i am watering the old ladys plants who lives downtairs from them i can easily see the rabbits when i go round. One rabbits food bowl is in the run and now full of water and the other rabbit has no food. If i hadn't pushed some hay and grass through they would have had nothing to eat and the people left on sunday afternoon and are still not back.

caismeister said:

am sure nobody has been round and i think their parents live quite far away. As i am watering the old ladys plants who lives downtairs from them i can easily see the rabbits when i go round. One rabbits food bowl is in the run and now full of water and the other rabbit has no food. If i hadn't pushed some hay and grass through they would have had nothing to eat and the people left on sunday afternoon and are still not back.

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Give the RSPCA a ring. If you had not noticed the bunnies who knows what might have happend. Esp with it being so hot last few days.

I'm going to call the RSPCA its awful that they have been left with no food

Have called the RSPCA and the man i spoke to said i was right to be concerned. Not sure what will happen but he has passed the details on to someone to deal with it. Feel so much better now i've reported it

caismeister said:

am sure nobody has been round and i think their parents live quite far away. As i am watering the old ladys plants who lives downtairs from them i can easily see the rabbits when i go round. One rabbits food bowl is in the run and now full of water and the other rabbit has no food. If i hadn't pushed some hay and grass through they would have had nothing to eat and the people left on sunday afternoon and are still not back.

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I misunderstood your post... I thought it was the bunny owners plants you were watering.

I hope the RSPCA give them asevere warning and make them sign the rabbits over:evil:

Crumbs those poor bunnies!

I would be very tempted to report it to the RSPCA, if everyone in the street is worried then it could be anyone that rang.

My neighbours are useless at getting looking after their rabbit but they always get this lovely lady and her little daughter to care for it when they're away.

I'm sorry to say but I had a similar situation last year and was very disappointed with the RSPCA. My Mum in Laws neighbours had gone away and had left their bun without food and water and nobody to look in on him. I ended up vaulting over the fence and feeding him a load of dandelions and filling his water but mum-in-law said he had been without for more than 4 days!!!!!!!!!!! He was gasping for a drink and had really bad conjunctivitis which I thought might be myxi at the time!!! I reported them to the rspca that night and asked to be kept informed about what had happened and the officer didn't visit the bun until 3 days later when the family had returned - the family just told the officer we were mistaken and when the officer phoned me she was making out like I had reported them as some kind of vendetta as the rabbit was perfectly fine and as they were home now it wasn't an issue. Sadly the rabbit disappeared after 3 months so I assume he died - they had only had him 6 months! I was gutted and annoyed with the RSPCA - surely they could see this animal was being mistreated but they seemed to turn a blind eye!!!! I hope for these bunnies sake that the rspca take a more strict view and you get a better officer than we did!

Rebecca xx

That's awful!!

I'm going camping next week and have my brother in law staying at our house, my sister coming round to help feed and clean and my father in law as back up. I would never leave them if I didn't have someone to look after them and back up should anything happen and that person couldn't get to them one day.
I really can't believe people act like this, i've been checking mine constantly with this heat.

The RSPCA came last night and the lady said to me to give them some food if i had any which i then did but not much as i feed science selective which is different from what they are usually fed. I filled the water bottles with fresh water and gave them more grass. She left a card taped to the runs saying contact upon return and she posted something through the door also and put tape on the front door so that if she came back she could see if anyone had been in.