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Helping lots of buns or giving top class care to a few...which is better?

Which is better - helping lots of buns or giving top class care to a limited number?

  • Rescue lots of rabbits, and give 'good' enough care

    Votes: 14 50.0%
  • Rescue a only few, and give top class care

    Votes: 14 50.0%

  • Total voters
    28

abbymarysmokey

Wise Old Thumper
A question which I have been pondering over for a while...

Is it better to rescue lots of rabbits (or other animals) and give them 'good enough' care, i.e. better than where they came from...or is it better to rescue only a couple of rabbits and give them the best that money can buy, i.e. Top quality food, the best vet care, huge accomodation, etc.
 
hmmm tuff I would say depends on situations. We have 2 buns at mo and although I would love more I know it wouldn't be fair to my 2 as they wouldn't get as much time with us and our house isnt really big enough. However if I saw a bunny in awful situation I wouldn't just walk by I would take it to get it out of there.
If it was a rescue then having lots with every basic thing they need is ok as the point is to then shift them on but even then you would have to be realistic to what you could do. No good getting 100 buns if you only have enough time to clean 50 you get me?
 
This is also something we have been pondering.

We currently have 38 bunnies, not the most we have ever had but many of them coming in have more severe and therefore time consuming problems. And while they are all being well looked after, we have decided that we need to reduce our numbers so that we can give more time to the ones we have here:)
 
Difficult question. I think it depends on a few things...what constitutes "good enough" and how long they will be there. I think better than where they came from is fine for short term (weeks or a few months) any longer and they really deserve something closer to what you would consider ok for permanent buns.

I personally think in most cases it is probably better to do less buns really well, then if you get over run with emergencies/dumped rabbits the level of care may go down to good enough, where as if you are already stretched they may get less than that..
 
I've often pondered this myself; not just in terms of bunnies but with numbers of rescue animals generally, when I wrestle with what numbers I can cope with. There is never a question of lack of adequate care when my numbers are higher, but my attention/time is spread over so many, especially when they are all ill. Finances obviously also play a part.

I think these days I'm erring much more towards giving top class care to a few animals, but I don't think there are any rights or wrongs, and circumstances change all the time.
 
we at one point had lots and lots of rats and rodents beause i was just dumped with them and some had come from abuse cases and horrid homes.We had too many but felt we had no choice to take them and give them a better home.They had with us good food playtime savic cages animal friends and medical treatment however one thing i felt guilty of is i didnt always have long enough to play with them and socialise with them.Yes i feel and felt bad and wish i had said no but then i think what they had at the start and relaised i gave them a far better life.Ok i didnt give them hours of human contact but i gave them what i could.
Now my numbers have almost halved rodent wise and alot of them are now coming on 3yrs and as getting very acient and dottery and i then think would they have got to a good age where they was.
Very interested to know other peoples views as this is a hard question to answer.
 
I started wondering about this after taking in a couple of severely ill rabbits recently who would have died or PTS otherwise. I can afford vet care for these rabbits...BUT I can't really afford the cost of referral to a specialist exotics vet if the need arose for either these newbies or my existing rabbits. So should I have refused to take them? :?
 
I have 42 Rabbits at the moment. I have no other life as such and spend all day every day with them. But even so I know that one person cannot give the same amount of time to 42 Rabbits as they could give to 4 Rabbits.

Having said that there are people with 4 Rabbits who work full time and have other 'interests' so maybe only spen a total of 2 hours each day with their Buns.

So I guess its hard to say what is 'better' :?

For me I will not be taking on any more Rabbits in my lifetime. The ones I have now will be my last.
 
I started wondering about this after taking in a couple of severely ill rabbits recently who would have died or PTS otherwise. I can afford vet care for these rabbits...BUT I can't really afford the cost of referral to a specialist exotics vet if the need arose for either these newbies or my existing rabbits. So should I have refused to take them? :?

This is so difficult and also a problem we have. It is so hard to turn buns away when you know the only other option would be pts. But then we also feel that we must put the bunnies we already have first and to take in more at there expense, whether financially or time wise isn't fair on them.

There really isn't an easy answer and we have taken in more bunnies when we have said definately no more and we will probably do it again. I guess you just have to do what your conscience tells you :?
 
Personally I think taking in more animals and giving them normal care is fine. I, myself don't live in a 'top class' environment, could do with new furniture, don't have many treats, but what I have is fine and I'm happy, I don't see any animal is different. I would rather have a couple of happy dogs, rather than one spoiled one. As far as finances go, we can pretty much cope, but if a major illness happened, yes we would be in trouble, but working in the vets I see people who can have this problem with one animal. Usually with referrals there are less expensive options which can still give a good quality of life.
I also feel if animals have the care and attention they need, and company of their own species they don't need hours of company from us, that is more a need in us rather than them.
 
Personally I think taking in more animals and giving them normal care is fine. I, myself don't live in a 'top class' environment, could do with new furniture, don't have many treats, but what I have is fine and I'm happy, I don't see any animal is different. I would rather have a couple of happy dogs, rather than one spoiled one. As far as finances go, we can pretty much cope, but if a major illness happened, yes we would be in trouble, but working in the vets I see people who can have this problem with one animal. Usually with referrals there are less expensive options which can still give a good quality of life.
I also feel if animals have the care and attention they need, and company of their own species they don't need hours of company from us, that is more a need in us rather than them.

cant sum it up much better than that and totally agree with you x
 
Personally I think taking in more animals and giving them normal care is fine. I, myself don't live in a 'top class' environment, could do with new furniture, don't have many treats, but what I have is fine and I'm happy, I don't see any animal is different. I would rather have a couple of happy dogs, rather than one spoiled one. As far as finances go, we can pretty much cope, but if a major illness happened, yes we would be in trouble, but working in the vets I see people who can have this problem with one animal. Usually with referrals there are less expensive options which can still give a good quality of life.
I also feel if animals have the care and attention they need, and company of their own species they don't need hours of company from us, that is more a need in us rather than them.

See I would count what you just described as top class care :) As you say when you have pairs/groups the time we spend with them doesn't, as long as the animals have enough space, food water and warmth I would count that as fine. It is when the numbers compromise that the problems start
 
We have 14 rescue rabbits which my Husband and I look after. I have been out of work for over 2 years so I have the time to give them the care they need and then when my Husband get's home from work he starts cleaning out and helping as well. We can manage 14 between us and what we can't take in we usually ring Gwen at Bunny Burrows and if she has the room she will take them and then we take the rabbit/rabbits down to her for rehoming. I think we have took about 12 rabbits down to BB over the years. We would love to take in more if we had the room and the time but we haven't, the last rabbit we took in was Kenzo to bond with Hope.
There will always be rabbits in our life for as long as we can look after them.
 
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Again it depends on what people count as good enough
Some people think 3 foot cages for buns are fine..I don't

Also differs on whether a rescue situation or a permanent..and the outcome for the animal if you didn't take it
So hard to answer:?
 
I'm thinking more about a permanent home or even a sanctuary offering a permanent place, rather than a rescue situation where the situation may only be temporary.
 
For me it would also depend on what "good enough" means. No matter if it was a rescue or a sanctuary. I think even rescues should not take on too many rabbits and then keep them in tiny dirty hutches and have no money to neuter and vaccinate them. They might be slightly better off than in their previous home, but some of these rabbits don't find a new home very quickly, so they might still suffer.
 
difficult question.

ideally, everybun would have comfort, companionship, access to the best medical attention...but then, a bun entering a rescue is already leaving probably unknowledgable home for a place where their needs are understood, so they are likely to be better off even if the rescue has lots of buns.
 
I don't think this is really a question just about accomodation.

If we are talking about pets or bunnies that will be staying with the owner permanently as opposed to rescue then other factors have to be taken into account, including the cost of better quality food, extra vet bills, amount of exercise time available and the amount of time you can spend with each one.

If the bunnies being taken in have extra health problems or other special needs then they need time spending with them every day to keep them clean and dry, to give them their medication, clean abscesses, make extra meals etc for dental bunnies. If they have behavioural problems then again they need time spending with them to help them over come these. If you spread yourself too thinly then this isn't possible.
 
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