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To let it go or not

chiarlei

New Kit
I live in a rural town in the willamette valley Oregon.
We recently had a heat wave with temps into the high 90's and 100's.
Went to someones house and saw they had a rabbit in a small cage wraped up in a black tarp sitting in the sun. I tried to get them to bring the rabbit inside they would not. I took the plastic off and put the cage in the shade and purchased 2 blocks of ice, put ice block in cage for rabbit. I came back to check on rabbit, they had returned the rabbit to the sun, it had no water at all.

I asked if I could buy the now dying rabbit. Offered $50 they said "NO"
to make a long story short I ended up stealing the rabbit from them.
I brought it home put in in my bedroom where the air conditioner keeps the temp at a constant 72 degrees. I kept bunny in a box about 6 ft by 6 ft with some horse hay, dandelions, clover and flowers from my garden. (I use no pesticides or herbicides what so ever) The bunny is better after a week.

This is my question; I cannot keep the rabbit as these people have called the police.
I will not return the rabbit as these people will not take care of the rabbit. (It had no water and was being killed in a tiny dirty cage in the heat)
The rabbit was wild when they caught it, there are are about 10 to 15 wild rabbits in the area they were once domesticated (I can tell because they are white with small brown patches) I don't feel good about letting it go, but I don't many alternatives.
I would return it to the area where the other rabbits are, where it lived when it was captured by the mean people. This group of feral rabbits has survived long enough to breed, but the survival rate must be low because there are only 10-15 and they have lived in the neighborhood for 4 to 5 years.

What would you do? I don't want to go to jail for theft but I will not give the bunny back to someone who will kill the rabbit from neglect. (this is the 3rd rabbit they have caught, the other two died)
 
Oh dear, what an awful situation. :cry: Is there a humane society or spca you could call for advice? Can you maybe move the rabbit to another location maybe pass it to a friend and then buy some time and discuss your concerns with the police, without the immediate fear of them being able to just seize the bunny back? Perhaps if you show the police or the SPCA where you think the bun has been taken from if it was feral and demonstrate that it isn't their property to demand back then that might open up some options for you?

Good luck.

Jo
 
Please don't let the rabbit go. It will be really vulnerable to predation due to its coloring. Do an internet search for rabbit rescues near you or take it to the local aspca. I don't know how close you are to Salem or Portland, but both have rabbit rescues. Go to www.rabbit.org and you can find their information on there. If they aren't near you, perhaps they would be able to assist you in finding a place for the bunny. It's a tough situation. Good luck to you and the poor little bunster.
 
Ooh gosh, that's a situation and a half! I'm not really sure what to suggest as we're not supposed to encourage stealing bunnies on here (although, in this instance, I think it was best for the bunny!).

I think I'd be tempted to move the rabbit to a friends house or see if you can get it into a rescue, tell the police about the conditions you took it from and that they'd caught it from the wild. Say that it was almost dead from heat stroke and complete lack of care/water and that's why you took it, and it died shortly afterwards. You'll probably still get in trouble for theft but at least they won't get it back if everyone thinks it's died.
 
Do you have some organisation which deals with cruelty to animals? You could report the people for neglect, but unfortunately the rabbit would have to be with them. And then it might die before anyone does anything about the situation.

It is very difficult. I don't support theft, but sometimes it is necessary, and to be honest, you did not cause these people any damage. They did not even pay for the rabbit, but caught it in the wild. Caging up wild animals is not a good thing to do, either. I think I would ask a friend to help out, someone who lives a bit further away. Or find a rescue, but not too close to home, either. The police will probably check them. Releasing it into the wild is not a good idea, if it has been in captivity for more than a few weeks. It wouldn't last very long there, although it would still be better off than sitting in an overheated small hutch. :(

(Off topic: I travelled through Oregon, including your valley, earlier this year, and must say that you are very lucky to live in such a beautiful place. :) )
 
I will keep kitty

i just wanted to say that I have fallen in love with the cute little brown and white bunny that I call Kitty. Kitty peers around the corner from my bathroom as I read everything I can about bunny care.

I found out that the people I took Kitty from have a no pets clause in their rental agreement and they have dropped all theft/trespassing charges on me.

Now, my only problem is since Kitty was once wild her diet consisted mainly of weeds. I keep hay in her pen and give her some pellets, but all she wants is the dandelions that are plentiful now, but when winter comes I wonder how I will find dandelion? I never see it at the grocery store. Should I be concerned that all she chooses to eat is the dandelions? She will occasionally munch on the clover I pick for her but does not seem to interested in the strawberries, pumpkin blossems, and pansies that I bring to her. She just makes tunnels and nests out of the hay. Sometimes one her ears goes up and one stays down, is that normal?
 
Thank you.

Hi,
Your comment just made me realize that we are not on the same contenent.
I thought that everyones speech sounded a bit different than what I am used to, but I didn't think much of it. What a very nice group of people you have in this forum! Thank you all for your help and suggestions! I think Kitty will be just fine here with me, as I will continue to spend an hour or so a day learning about how to care for a rabbit.
Thank you all again!!
Stacey

(Off topic: I travelled through Oregon, including your valley, earlier this year, and must say that you are very lucky to live in such a beautiful place. :) )[/QUOTE]
 
That is good news about your new bunny :)

You are already feeding bun plenty of horse hay. You should see if you can buy some different types of hay online to give a mix to the diet. You could slowly introduce vegetables, which you will be able to pick up at the supermarket (spring greens, savoy cabbage, broccolli, celery and loads more. I also give my two herbs (basil, flat leaf parsley, curley parsley, coriander, dill) i get these from the supermarket.

You can also buy dried dandielion online here, so you might be able to get it in the US. You could also try drying some out yourself and keep it by for the winter.

Sounds like your bunster will think she is in bunny heaven now with all the care and love she is getting :) Well done x
 
I am so pleased you rescued this bunny. I would try looking for weeds bunnies would eat in your local area. The wild bunnies must be eating something! Make sure there is no pesticides on them though and wash them first.

Fresh grass can be cut with scissors and fed (not lawnmower clippings), different hays might tempt her, veggies like spring greens and herbs...

I am sure in time she will start to nibble on the new food and enjoy them. I know one of my bunnies took a while to actually like veggies, but I kept offering and then one day he wolfed the whole lot down!
 
That's absolutely brilliant news! I just hope those people won't bother trying to catch anymore now.

With regards to food, do you feed each thing seperately? I find if I mix my buns food up together they'll eat the lot but if I put it in piles of each type of stuff, the favourites go first! :roll: It might be worth trying to hide some pellets in with the dandelions. Hopefully she'll kind of eat one by accident and decide they're not poisonous after all and eat them all! ;)

If you need any advice on other bunny topics, ask on here. There's a lot of rabbit knowledge floating about between the members of the forum! :wave:
 
I am so happy that the people you rescued the bunny from have agreed to drop the charges, I really hope they don't manage to get anymore pets :evil: horrible people.

I think regards to diet, as others have suggested if you try introducing veg slowly then she might gradually get used to them :) Keep on trying.

Are you going to get her vaccinated for VHD and myxi?

Also we'd love to see some piccies of her :D
 
Go also on the House Rabbit website in the USA and read about care and feeding

http://www.rabbit.org/

I would keep veg to a minimum (until she has settled and you know what you are doing) and keep to hay and a handful of mix with the dandelions. If she has been on a poor diet, she may need her teeth checked. Rabbits need to eat a good supply of hay or grass daily to wear down their continuous growing teeth.
 
I am so happy that the people you rescued the bunny from have agreed to drop the charges, I really hope they don't manage to get anymore pets :evil: horrible people.

I think regards to diet, as others have suggested if you try introducing veg slowly then she might gradually get used to them :) Keep on trying.

Are you going to get her vaccinated for VHD and myxi?

Also we'd love to see some piccies of her :D

:wave:They don't vaccinate for VHD or Myxi in the US. When I asked my vet about it prior to moving to the UK she looked at as though I was crazy. Although I believe there have been instances of both, they aren't spread as easily because the native cottontail is unaffected by either one or both. I will be happy not to have that worry when I move back. Even though mine are vaccinated, I am still paranoid they will get something or have a wierd immune system reaction from the vaccinations.

BTW, I agree, we do need pictures!:D
 
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