Would the RSPCA...

go to deal with a suffering wild rabbit on a road?

My colleague told me this morning that she was driving home last night and a man in a white van ran over a wild rabbit and it spun behind the car, she swerved out of its way and then looked in her rear view mirror and saw it dragging itself to the side of the road. She said she had a panic attack and called the RSPCA and they said they would send someone out to deal with it.

Do the RSPCA actually do this or do they just say they will deal with it and give up if they can't find it?

I would have thought they would at least go out to it and try to find it.

The other alternative is to ring a wildlife rescue and see if they could help.

Poor rabbit.

Yeah, the RSPCA have wildlife officers. Akthough I doubt the ones down my way would bother doing anything. :roll:

I should think the rabbit would have been an easy target for a fox or something so, as horrid as it is, it's probably not suffering anymore.

Your friend could have picked the rabbit up and taken it to a vet who have a legal obligation under the wildlife act to treat the animal at no cost to the person taking it in.

Yes, the RSPCA would go and and try to help. But the chances of them being able to find the rabbit would probably be slim as it would of just dragged itself off to die? If it were me, i wouldve stopped and picked the bunny up to take to a vet.

Oh Bless it's heart we live in the country and Mike often brings wild buns home that have been hit by cars, the spinning is trauma and they seldom survive when you see that.

I can't stand the thought of it, we live in the country too so my days are filled with seeing dead animals on the road. If I came across something dying though I would definitely take it to the vet, even though I'd be crying all the way there...

I doubt the RSPCA would have been able to find it, how would they know exactly where it was? Even if they did I doubt the rabbit would still be there when they got there.

As said above you should take the rabbit to the vet where they would probably have it PTS. Keep a cardbox box in the boot of your car just incase.

I would of tried to catch it and taken it to a wildlife rescue. St Tigs is not too far from Oxford. Sadly not many vets or the RSPCA would go the extra mile to help wildlife and they usually end up euthanasing.

To be honest, if we got called out for a wild rabbit or a wild bird we wouldn't go out unless the caller was physically sat with it and could see it. Looking for an injured animal in a vague area is like looking for a needle in a haystack and takes too much time as well as usually being fruitless. We get calls all the time from people saying things like - there is an injured swan on the canal.............what canal? where abouts? is it swimming? We hurtle off to find nothing. My partner has done a 30 mile round trip before now to rescue a bird that simply flew off!! If you see something injured then you should attempt to stay with it and ring for advice on how and if to handle it.

Poor bunny .
That is my worst nightmare. Would you stress the bunny out too much though if you put it in your car to take to the vets, wouldnt it die of shock?.

aww poor bunny

my mum saw a poorly wild bunny with myximatosis the other day on the way to work. She stopped and couldn't catch it but said she shooed it into a car park on an industrial area to get it off the road (it is an industrial area on a country lane). She went back after work to see if she could find it as i told her to take it to the vets or something if she could get it. One of her colleagues said she should have just stamped on its head! poor bunny. I know people say put them out of their misery but do they have to be so graphic about what to do and it is so cruel!