Should i take this further - rabbit deaths (sorry quite long)

We bought our rabbit pickles from a local garden centre and she died after five weeks

I emailed them to let them know and asked if they were checked before being sold

and this was the reply

"I am sorry to hear about your recent pet loss.

While in store the animals are only checked by a vet if they show symptoms of disease as we cannot diagnose any problems by law. If while in our care they show no symptoms they will not go to a vet for a ‘check-up’ as this is the responsibility of the new pet owner. If any problems occur and are diagnosed by a vet during the initial consultation the pet can be returned to store as we never knowingly sell one that is sick, injured or suffering from any visible deformity. If the animal appears to be unwell within 7 days of purchase the store should be contacted at the earliest opportunity and if necessary the animal returned to us for consultation with our own vet.

I am unaware of any other rabbit losses recently. Unfortunately in the absence of a vet report as to why the rabbit died we are unable to investigate any further."

Then Bruce died :'( he was from the same store and his post mortem said congenative kidney failure
We had only had him for 9 months.

I e-mailed the store to let them know again and asked if they had any issues with their breeders etc and how i was concerned for the rabbits in store.

I had no reply for ten days now so i forwarded it on again this afternoon.

This time I had a reply (BY MISTAKE) with someone saying

"can you please deal with this"

and forwarded it on to someone else in the company

then they tried to recall the message



Is it worth taking this further or not?
Im still upset over the loss of my rabbits especially beautiful bruce (my first) but dont want anyone else going through the same thing.
Im worried that the rabbits arent looked after properly.

I am sorry for your losses. Unfortunately it will be a problem with the breeder that supplies their bunnies. Buying rabbits from pet shops/garden centres is always very risky as they often use backyard breeders that have absolutely no care of their animals.

I would probably keep bugging them, but tbh, if nobody else has complained about their rabbits dying, then nothing will be done. Can you ask your vet to send off the results of your bun's PM?

I dont think there is anything more you can do. There is no way of proving that the tragic deaths were directly related to poor breeding/poor care in the shop. The only proactive thing to do now is to not buy from a Pet Shop in the future but to go to a Rescue or source a reputable Breeder. Many on here will dispute that the latter exist though, but that already exhausted debate is not for this thread.

Jack's-Jane said:

I dont think there is anything more you can do. There is no way of proving that the tragic deaths were directly related to poor breeding/poor care in the shop. The only proactive thing to do now is to not buy from a Pet Shop in the future but to go to a Rescue or source a reputable Breeder. Many on here will dispute that the latter exist though, but that already exhausted debate is not for this thread.

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yeah i have learned from my experiences this year of pet shop bunnies
a lot of rescue rabbits are from pet shops as well so theres a worry there as well

i'll stick with my three for now

Vegan_Bunny said:

I am sorry for your losses. Unfortunately it will be a problem with the breeder that supplies their bunnies. Buying rabbits from pet shops/garden centres is always very risky as they often use backyard breeders that have absolutely no care of their animals.

I would probably keep bugging them, but tbh, if nobody else has complained about their rabbits dying, then nothing will be done. Can you ask your vet to send off the results of your bun's PM?

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i have a copy of the PM so i will forward that on

It may just be time to leave it though and learn from my mistakes

Very sorry to hear of your losses

Rexripley said:

a lot of rescue rabbits are from pet shops as well so theres a worry there as well

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Rescues will have thoroughly (MUCH more so than a pet store) checked the health of their rabbits before they leave the facility. They are also generally a little older, will have already been spayed/neutered etc. so will be as healthy as any rabbit can be.

Sorry to hear of the loss of your bunnies.

AMETHYST

Im so sorry about your loses. Unfortunately congenital kidney problems can happen to any rabbit wherever it is from. It is just one of those things that you wouldn't know about until its too late. Although if the original breeder can be traced then that could be helpful. Im not sure the garden centre is to blame on this occasion

I am so sorry for your losses.

Tbh I wouldn't leave it. I'm pretty sure that congregative kidney failure is a birth defect (check with your vet to be sure). Based on that and the fact that the other bun you had from there passed away so young too, I would argue that the animals they are selling cannot be being bred at all responsibly. Ultimately they need to know that there is something wrong with the breeder(s) they are using and they need to act.

Also, I know this is quite a horrible way of looking at it, but it may make the company pay more attention - under the 'sale of goods act' anything sold, including pets, must be "fit for purpose", that means that a rabbit should at the very least last a few years and be free of any birth defects. At the very least you should get a refund for the price of the rabbits and you can argue for money for any vets bills relating to each buns death.

We got our Benji from P@H and when we got him they told us that he was completely healthy. He died six months due to cardio myopathy and the vet told us he would have had the condition all of his life.