Grrrrr - rabbit and piggie up for adoption together at SSPCA

http://www.scottishspca.org/rehoming/animal/13936_simba

:evil: If the big national rescues can't get the basics right what chance do Joe Public have.

can someone bounce that to RWA?

parsnipbun said:

can someone bounce that to RWA?

Click to expand...

I'm just sending an E-mail to the SSPCA which I'll post here when I'm done, if anyone wants to draft something to the RWF I'd be grateful. Guess it wouldn't harm for others to e-mail the SSPCA too.

I have also sent an email (polite). Hope they get the message...

Can't believe that :shock:

tulsi said:

I have also sent an email (polite). Hope they get the message...

Click to expand...

Let me know if you get a reply, have had nothing to mine yet. I imagine it's going to be a case of the pair have been handed in bonded and they don't wish to seperate but it doesn't really send out a great message for those that can't be bothered to neuter and might just opt for a guinea instead.

Just got an automatic thank you for your enquirey kind of email saying that WHERE NECESSARY they will get back to me... so we'll see.

I've tweeted them...

Crunchie said:

Dear Sir or Madam,

On browsing the rehoming section of the website I came across the following ad for Simba the rabbit.

http://www.scottishspca.org/rehoming/animal/13936_simba

It is very concerning that the charity is attempting to find him a home with his guinea pig companion. There are a number of different reasons why guinea pigs and rabbits make poor companions including the following:

- Different dietary requirements
- Different means of communication
- Danger to guinea pig from being mounted/jumped on/kicked by rabbit

A leaflet from the Rabbit Welfare Fund strongly advises against the practice of keeping both species together.

http://www.rabbitwelfare.co.uk/pdfs/BunnyBuddiedwebpage.pdf

The practice of keeping a rabbit and guinea pig is extremely outdated and it’s very worrying that Scotland’s leading animal welfare charity is advocating it. Rabbits should only ever be kept with a neutered companion of the same species and I’m confident that Simba would be far happier with a neutered female companion and Oscar would be far better off with another guinea pig.

Click to expand...

This is great:thumb: Love the way it's worded, i'm so bad at that

Lets hope they reply...

Got a reply;


This Rabbit and Guinea Pig that is on the website have shared their life together for 2 years and they depend on each other for comfort and reassurance, it would not be in their best interests to separate them.

If animals are brought up together and are properly looked after in their needs and environment there should not be any problems just like your dog and cat many households have dogs and cats living together very happily although they are by nature not really compatible.

We as an Animal Welfare Society would not put any animals into a situation that was detrimental to their health and wellbeing I hope this e-mail reassures you of this.


She also said that I was right in what I say (that rabbits could accidently harm guinea pigs and that guinea pigs could not warn off rabbits as they have a different language. I also mentioned different nutritional requirements). So if I was right why the ***k are they not separating them and giving them a member of their own species to bond with. They are both gorgeous too. Oh my word

My rabbit and guinea pig were together for well over a year and were bonded/best friends, used to follow each other around, snuggled up all the time etc but that didn't stop Flymo from over-grooming Big Pig one night so much that he now has a permanent bald patch! There was no malice and it broke my heart to have to separate them but it was not fair to keep them together (learnt from that mistake).

Such a crappy excuse - both animals would be fine rebonded with a species-appropriate mate :roll:

tulsi said:

Got a reply;


This Rabbit and Guinea Pig that is on the website have shared their life together for 2 years and they depend on each other for comfort and reassurance, it would not be in their best interests to separate them.

If animals are brought up together and are properly looked after in their needs and environment there should not be any problems just like your dog and cat many households have dogs and cats living together very happily although they are by nature not really compatible.

We as an Animal Welfare Society would not put any animals into a situation that was detrimental to their health and wellbeing I hope this e-mail reassures you of this.

Click to expand...

Bl**dy excuses! Dogs and cats aren't shoe-horned into a cage together and forced to eat the same food! *head desk*

I got the same reply, trying to think of how best to respond, I know they do neuter rabbits as they use the vet school.

Is there anyone more official that might help us here? The RWA?

I would say what this reply seems to have missed is that the rabbit isn't going to intentionally harm the guinea pig but that these things a likely to happen by accident. And surely the fact that to ensure they were getting the correct food you would need to seperate them to feed them isn't exactly ideal. They might be miserable to begin with but it's not like they can't be rebonded to another rabbit and guinea pig. It is also bizarre that she states they would not do anything detrimental to an animals health or well being and then continues by agreeing with what you have said. You would think that given rescues put such stringent requirements on prospective rabbit owners and insist on home visits, they would get something as simple as this correct!! Also to compare this to a cat/dog situation is just ridiculous!