• Forum/Server Upgrade If you are reading this you have made it to the upgraded forum. Posts made on the old forum after 26th October 2023 have not been transfered. Everything else should be here. If you find any issues please let us know.

Poor bunnies

Rach210

Alpha Buck
The place I've recently started working has 3 bunnies. Unneutered males living in a 5ft hutch but they spend most of their time in a run that can't be more than 4ftx4ft an not tall enough to periscope. They don't even have names. They are all lops, 2 black an one grey.

These bunnies aren't cleaned out very often, get a huge bowl of meusli but no hay and get the peelings and offcuts from the veg prepared in the kitchen but today there was some clearly left over from a couple of days ago that smelt bad. The person who's responsibility they are only works 9-5 monday to friday so they are covered with a tarpaulin out of her working hours apart from weekends when whoever gets around to it looks after them. I always make sure I see them if I work a weekend but my workload is too heavy to find time to clean them out or anything. These rabbits are also very very fat, another member of staff told me that the grey one had had problems with a dirty bottom earlier this year. Apparently the littler black one is 'vicious' but I've found him a total sweetie who loves nose rubs. They are all very friendly an docile.

I don't know what to do. Apparently the RSPCA was called to them once before and nothing changed. If I spoke up to the manager nothing would change because that would cost the company money. And only one other person at work seems to think anything is wrong with how they are kept.
 
Oh dear :( can you maybe mention casually that buying bales of hay is probably cheaper (appealing to them) than lots of muesli alone?
 
Oh no :0( do you know the person that looks after them ? Could you have a word ? Why do they have rabbits ?
 
Helen no I really don't think they would rehome them, although if that were ever to happen they'd be offered a place with me and then rehomed through here!

It's a nursing home and the activities organiser is responsible for them. I did try and point out that they had no space to hop in their run but she wasn't bothered. She didn't even know if they were boys or girls and doesn't seem to like them much. She also thinks that the little black one is 'vicious' as he's bitten a coupe of staff.

I think the idea is that they are nice for the residents but in reality nobody really bothers with them. it seems to be accepted that rabbits don't need much care and attention and I don't think they would spend any money on them. I'm in a position at the moment where I'm new and really can't go making a fuss about the rabbits in my first week because it wouldn't go down well with the manager :(

It's worse when I come home to my beautiful bunnies and see the comparison between my buns and the work buns.
 
You are right about not saying too much in your first week. Mabe you could stuff some loo rolls with hay and take them in for them and GRADUALLY work on getting them out of there, or, better still in to improved housing, thus making them more entertaining for the residents to watch ...
 
If I could change just one thing it would be to get them a bigger run so they could hop about and be active.
 
Is there any way you could get letters sent from 'concerned relatives' (i.e. you or us!)?

I'm thinking out loud here but is there any way you could contact an organisation like the council or someone who licenses the home. They wouldn't be able to do anything other than ring up and say something, however the scare might be enough to change things? Just thinking though....
 
Poor poor bunnies :cry:
I think for now the best thingy ypu can do is provided them with a bit of compassion and also some hay from home and slowly work toward educating there owner on proper rabbit care.
 
What about if you offered to take resposibility for them... to ease the load... to work with them to bring more benefit to the residents... things like that, to make it beneficial to the nursing home.
 
The RSPCA were apparently called once but nothing changed. It frustrates me because the residents are very well cared for so the animals should be too! There are also 2 guinea pigs but they have a 5ft hutch so much more space. They don't seem to get out into the run ever though. It appears that the people responsible for their care don't even like the rabbits very much.

I will try and get some hay in for them at the weekend but if I tried to spend time with them on weekdays I'd get told off by the manager I think. I work 8-8 4 days a week and rarely take more than one half hour break because it's busy and hard work, although I enjoy it. I couldn't squeeze rabbit care into that time as well and definitely couldn't afford to buy double the amount of hay I buy for my own bunnies to feed the work bunnies as well.

Sky-O I wouldn't be allowed to take responsibility because it's part of the Activities Organiser's jobs to deal with the rabbits, therefore not my job. The manager is nice but doesn't seem very approachable.
 
Back
Top