Spreading the word.

I'm always banging on to anyone that will listen, or even if they wont!, about the awful deal that rabbits get with regard to their care.

We had rabbits when we were younger but my Mom was never really that interested in them although she did feed/clean them out when we were unable to.

However, she now visits petshops and always goes to see how the rabbits are being kept and has a "discreet" word if she doesn't think they are being housed very well. Since seeing how I keep Louie, and the others before him, she really has had her eyes opened to how rabbits really should be kept

The family all came over at the weekend and my niece, who is 18, was saying to her Mom how much she would love a houserabbit. I piped up with how it's much nicer for them to be freerange blah blah, really got a discussion going between us all

I told my Mom on Wednesday about Louie's eyes and she was really upset, his welfare really does seem to matter to her

I just wanted to say really that what we say CAN make a big difference to how people perceive rabbits and I'm really happy that what I have said over time has made such an impact on my family members

So, the moral is, keep doing what we are doing

A friend asked if rabbits made easy pets, when I told her what was involved she realised now was not the time for them to have such an intensive care animal.

Job done.

Our garden centre is wonderful they show how they need to be looked after, sell all the right stuff and have a bunny-savvy vets right next door advising them.

That's great news! I'm still seen as weird by many folk having free range house rabbits but I don't care-its my choice and their lack of understanding.

Its true that people really don't understand how much hard work they are. I myself am very guilty of being ignorant when I was younger (A LOT younger ) Luckily for the rabbit I owned back then she claimed the whole shed after breaking out of her hutch and she was so agressive that we couldn't get her back in. If she hadn't broken out though i'm ashamed to admit she would have been confined the the hutch as we really had no clue back then how to keep rabbits. Everyone (honestly everyone!) of my friends that had rabbits just kept them in a hutch and that was it. Its what people did back then. Unfortunately people still think they are the type of animal you can buy an bung in a hutch keeping them fed, clean, and watered is only half the story. That said I have notices improvements in bigger pet shops. The advice is definately realistic now and people are being given a lot more advice which is a good start.

Ps please dont hate me for my ignorance when I was younger it really was a long time ago and i was only 11.

I have to say when I was younger I had a bunny, was kept in a 4ft hutch although had a big run all day every day. It wasnt neutered, and probably didnt have as good a diet as it should have. When we moved here 11 years ago my new neighbour explained how he "spoils" his rabbit with a bit hutch adn space and food and I wanted to do the same. thanks to him I read up on my bunnies. that first one passed away at night aged 9. People can make a big difference when the reason for the lack of care is just a lack of understanding.

We had 2 sisters that we got from the dad of one of my sisters friends, he was a very small scale breeder.

My Dad is a carpenter by trade and built a hutch that was probably 5ft long and about 2.5ft tall, so not too bad. He also built them a "run", was probably more like a 5ft square enclosure, but they didn't get to go in it everyday.

They were unneutered, unvaccinated but we were lucky in that they didn't fight. We did actually research rabbits before we got them and did feed them plenty of hay, mix and vegetables. We also got harnesses and leads for them so they didn't lead too bad a life.

One died suddenly at aged 3, don't know of what, but the other we had til she was 7. We got her a guinea pig for company and again we were lucky as they never fought.

But, now, I wouldn't again keep any rabbit the same way as they were kept back then. Unfortunately, though, lots of people still think this, or worse, is the only way to keep them

I will just keep banging away in a mad rabbit woman way and hope that some of my thoughts get through

Good job to everyone that helps spread the good word, people are less likely to give a bun a poor life if they know the facts.

I just think that somedays you despair of things ever getting better no matter how much you may try to help.

A friend of a friend left her hubby a few years ago and my friend took it upon herself to rehome the 6 rabbits, 4 cats, 1 dog, 2 ferrets and some cornsnakes that were kept in awful conditions at the ex hubbys house.

This was how I came to get Simba. He was kept in a 3ft hutch, hardly fed or watered and never let out for exercise. My friend managed to rehome all the animals, even driving miles to take the Bassett Hound to a rescue specifically for that breed

Fast forward a couple of years. Friend of friend now has 2 unspeyed cats one of which had a litter of kittens and she also has a Staffie :evil: The Bassett Hound that she had previously was mostly kept locked in a dog cage.

As far as I know she hasn't obtained anymore rabbits yet...