Prevent the Selling of Long-Haired Breeds

I think Long-haired breeds should not be available from pet shops. With experience of these fluffies, they are hard work, high maintenance, and need grooming regularly, and not just your five minute job, an Angora could take you up to an hour. Wonderful gentle natures, but coat wise, a whole different ball game to the short haired variety.

I personally love my cashmere rescues, but feel that greater care should be taken when allowing the public to buy them. They just see the big fluffy fluff ball, later comes the regret when they realise the work involved in caring for these bunnies.

Annie

I know what you mean Annie, I don't think there are any Angora breeders in Scotland, but we still got one handed into us (Bear). So we don't know where he came from. We have loads of Lionheads though, and they can be just as bad. I know of one person who takes his longhaired bun to the vet to get clipped, but unfortunately not very often as it costs him £35 a time. Because the bun isn't used to being groomed, he hates it when they try so they've just given up. So I wonder where these longhaired ones come from then?

I imagine some of the problem is from the mass breeders that breed specifically to supply petshops (chains). Presumably they aim to produce bunnies with the 'cute' appeal so they will attract buyers. Unfortunately this isn't very good for the bunnies that end up as impulse purchases.

I guess the answer to this is to encourage petshops not to sell fluffy breeds, breeders to refuse to supply petshops with fluffies buns and educate people on the care needed so they can make a informed decision about whether they can care for a log haired bun.

Tam

My rabbit is a very fluffy lionhead. I bought him from teh New Forest Show from a breeder there. I looked at many adult lionheads at the show and thought they were nice rabbits so decided to buy a baby one. I must admit he was adorable as a ball of fluff but was told that as he grew up this would disappear and leave just a mane and skirt. However it never did! I have to groom him at least every other day or other wise he gets bad knots. He isnt too bad to groom altho he doesnt tolerate being on his back for long. I had a bad time with him a few months ago where he had some big matts i couldnt get rid of and he had a few pooing probs due to the hair he ate. A breeder helped me at that point and i think now he has finished the main moult. He is still very fluffy and long haired but its not so thick as it was earlier in the year. I agree they shouldnt be sold in pet shops, however at places such as the new forest show, anyone can buy a baby there.
I have been told that he is like this as occassionally when breeding a lionhead you get a fluffy one that is like a throw back to their origins.
Chris

I personally dont think ANY Rabbit's should be available from Pet Shop's.

I do agree that long haired Rabbit's take much more care and attention. They need a much more dedicated owner.

I have an Angora x from Emma at Furry Friends Rescue. He was one of many being breed for Snake food.

His fur grows quite long and take daily brushing. Im lucky as he just sits there while I do it and takes it in his stride and I also enjoy doing it.

Louise

Hello EllePotter and welcome to the Forum.
It is good of you to consider taking on a long haired bunny, and it sounds like you (and the bunny) are enjoying your time together.
Have you found any good books specifically targeted at caring for long haired bunnies, or did someone give you advice as how to care for him??

I am interested to hear that you feel that pet shops should not sell pets full stop.
What are you specific concerns re pet shops?
If pet shops were much more carefully regulated and pets needs met better whilst they were in pet shops would you feel more comfortable about the idea?

It is very difficult to make such a sweeping change as to ban all pet shops from selling pets, perhaps it could be staged and numbers reduced to start with, and those left to sell pets have much more rigid regulations they have to follow.

I wonder if Pet shop Owners feel frustrated by things too, as they do not have many guidelines in place to follow and perhaps that is why standards and level of care varies so widely.
I look forward to hearing more views on this subject.

Prevent the Selling of Long Haired Breeds

Hi Ellepotter, good to see you .
I have 5 Angora crossbreeds here, they all take a lot of grooming and looking after. I hate the thought that anyone could buy one from a pet shop as they are so time consuming and need extra care and attention. Most people have no idea of the extra special needs of these bunnies in order to keep them healthy and comfortable.
I spoke recently and gave advice to a lady who bought an Angora from a pet shop and hoped that she would follow the advice. However I was saddened to hear that she decided to breed from the bunny because she was of the opinion that it was broody and needed babies. Now of course she will have long haired babies to home and has no real rabbit knowledge. A situation that causes concern. It is difficult to get through to people that spaying a bunny is the right choice for health reasons and also to prevent further bunnies being born unnecessarily when we have a rabbit welfare crisis and rescues are bursting at the seams. Long haired rabbits are almost impossible to re-home as their are so few people willing to take the trouble to care for them.
I am sure Emma would agree, as I know Ted was in rescue for a long time. Well done for taking such great care of him.

HI Chris and Simba
the coat on long-haired bunnies can be a complete nightmare, and does involve a lot of care, of which you seem to have a hold of... Unfortunately, there are still sales pens at some of the larger shows, but the BRC are now gradually beginning to remove these due to the fact that anyone can buy a bunny from them at a fairly low price. No disrespect to yourself of course, as it is obvious Simba has landed on his feet, so to speak.. :lol:

I have two Cashmeres, Dougal and Harry and am about to get an Angora x from Sue at bracknell. The long haired breeds are time consuming, but if you can give the time they do have wonderful temperaments.

Hi Adele,

I havent got any books specifically about Long haired Rabbits. I have a few that mention them but thats about it. I care for Ted like I would any other Rabbit other then his daily grooming sessions and a full groom out once a week. He gets one day off a week from being groomed as I feel its not fair on him to do it evreyday. He's just recently been clipped due to the hot weather so he's getting a brush over once a week at the moment as he's nice and short.

I believe in today's time's when we have a population of over 30,000 Rabbit's in Rescue centers its not justified selling Rabbit's in Pet Shops and via Breeders etc.

Maybe when times change and the population of Rabbit's in recues is no more we can start to work out strict guidelines for breeding/selling live animals so we dont end up with the problem we have got now.

Louise

Thanks for your kind words Dorothy!

I really enjoy looking after Ted. In the future when we have more space I would defintley consider taking on more long haired buns!

Louise

OK, Here are my views on the Pet Shop etc debate. I don’t mean to offend anybody and these are my personal views.

I don’t believe there is a right or wrong answer to this. Whatever way you look at it, it has its disadvantages and advantages.

In an ideal world there would be a total ban on selling/breeding Rabbit's until the Rabbit population in rescues was brought under control. Strict regulations could then be enforced to make sure the problem we have now doesn’t happen again. Whether it be by licensing, fining etc.

The above would never happen, as it would never go thou government. Rabbit's don’t have a big enough profile in the UK to get the support needed for the above to happen. It would cost the government millions to do and what would they get out of it? Who would care? "Its only a Rabbit!"

A lot of people still class Rabbit's as animals to be eaten not Pets, if an appeal went out in a paper for the 30,000 Rabbits in rescues the majority of people would say "its only a Rabbit!” But if an appeal went out for 30,000 dogs that would grab peoples attention, we are a nation of dog lovers so I’m told and we've kept dog as pets for years, they've never been part of our food chain, we've never hunted them like we have Rabbit's.

The main problem is people's attitudes to Rabbit's. A lot of Rabbits are brought as child's pets. Rather then getting one from a rescue where you might have to pay £20+ for it, sign adoption agreements, maybe even have a home check. It’s much easier to go into a pet shop and buy one for £10.00 whatever there sold for now with no hassle. At the end of the day, "its only a Rabbit"! That’s a lot of people’s attitudes.

On the other side there is the people that want to get their Rabbit's neutered but cant afford to get them neutered or don’t want to pay that much. It costs £50.00 plus to get a Rabbit neutered. It’s nearly as much as a dog. There are no neutering vouchers for Rabbits and the RSPCA don’t offer discounts. What message does that send out to people? Again peoples attitudes are "its only a Rabbit", why bother?

Then you get people like us the minority. Who understand the situation. We get our Rabbit's neutered; we try and spread the word. That's fair enough but we can only educate and help those who want to know or listen. The majority of people don’t want to know, "Its only a Rabbit!"

Re. Pet shops. Yes, I dislike them; I believe there should be a ban on selling any live animals in this way. This may happen one day but its not going to help the situation. There's still the people who don’t get their Rabbit's neutered, breeders. They sell their Rabbit's thou place’s like Ad-mag, online classifieds. It’s a hidden market, like a black market. You can’t see what goes on, what conditions these Rabbit's are kept in. At least in a pet shop its an open environment, you can walk in and see how there being kept, get the RSPCA round if there being ill treated/ill kept.

At the end of the day when it boils down to the nitty gritty it people's attitude’s towards Rabbit's and money that are our worst enemy’s in the fight for Rabbit welfare.

All we can do is, is help those Rabbit's that are in need by rescue and re-homing and try and educate people, and try and raise the profile of Rabbit’s..

I would be interested to here people's views on this and can anybody see a way forward?
.

Louise

I don't normally voice my views/opinions but feel that its time :lol:

My personal opinion is that NO ANIMALS SHOULD BE SOLD FROM PET SHOPS, whether they are better regulated or not. A shop is a shop and therefore their aim is to make MONEY and not the welfare of the animal.

Adele - you say

It is very difficult to make such a sweeping change as to ban all pet shops from selling pets, perhaps it could be staged and numbers reduced to start with, and those left to sell pets have much more rigid regulations they have to follow.

Life is full of rules and regulations for humans and the majority of them are not adhered to, even less would be adhered animals to in pet shops because people just think of them as 'animals' and they don't have feelings. Don't get me wrong there is always an exception to the rule but I am talking about the majority here. !

I wonder if Pet shop Owners feel frustrated by things too, as they do not have many guidelines in place to follow and perhaps that is why standards and level of care varies so widely.

What guidelines should someone need to make sure that an animal is well looked after, if it seems unwell that it needs vetinary care - these guidelines should be commonsense, especially to someone who owns a petshop but time and time again you hear of people going into petshops only to see animals that have no food, can't reach their water, are quite obviously unwell, the list goes on, not to mention the abuse some of these poor animals receive when they get taken home !!

Just my opinion and hope it offends no-one.

I am against selling all animals in pet shops mainly because it is just too easy to go in there, see an animal and walk straight out with it. You don't have to think about what looking after the animal will involve, how long it will live etc - which is particularly important in the case of long haired breeds of rabbit. I think this is the main reason for so many pet shop buns end up in rescues. Maybe if buying an animal was made a bit harder, as it is with dogs and cats, less would be abandoned.

I can't comment on rabbits available at shows because I've never been to one... But if it's a similar situation where you can simply walk away with a rabbit then it is a similar problem. Although having said that, anyone attending a show would already have an interest in rabbits and maybe more knowledge.

Your opnion is well comed Stephanie, as is everybodies.

Hello sorry to intrude on your posting Annie...I just wanted to add, that it is great to hear everyones opinions, they are all equally valid, and it is the policy of this Forum that open debate is to be allowed. (Adele-Diplomat)

I wonder if Pet shop Owners feel frustrated by things too, as they do not have many guidelines in place to follow and perhaps that is why standards and level of care varies so widely.

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Thats a interesting point. As Stephanie says there are some things that are common sense like providing water, keeping things clean and going to a vet with health problems. On the other hand there is a lot of conflicting advise available on caring for rabbits and I admit despite reading several books before getting a bunny there was a lot that I didn't learn until later. Things like neutering, bonding 'rules', diets etc. are often come as you get more experience. I wonder if a lot of petshops are giving out the wrong advice without realising they are even doing so. Rabbits are generally only one small aspect of running a petshop business and most owners won't have a rabbit as a pet. If no one challenges their knowledge then they assume they have things right.

Tamsin

Ps. I just wanted to congratulate everyone on putting their different views across in such a friendly manner. Thank you!

This is really great to hear all the different views and sounds like although we can differing views - were all trying to work from the same page here - for the good of the bunnies.

Re Tams interesting points - It seems that the topic can get even more complex in that you have differing levels of Petstore. There is a small independent chain of Stores local to me who sell bunnies. When ever I have visited - yep - the bunnies appear to be in good health and kept in a clean airy environment with food and water. The other side of the coin is a Large well now Garden Centre again fairly close to me who sell bunnies and now ferretts. They are kept in relatively small areas which must be roasting in the hot weather and at Easter they were even selling Easter Eggs along side the bunnies to promote sales - call me a pesimist if you like but I find it hard to imagine that the Directors of these larges outlets care regarding the ongoing welfare of the bunnies they provide but more about the profit which will go into their pockets.
That said - How do we try and get an even keel to this situation - how about - could the Petstores/Garden Centres not sell small animals but have referals to reputable Rescues where they could perhaps work together in a "win - win" situation - o.k - lets explore this then!! - So
if Petstores were to set up "Partner" arrangements with rescues - then o.k they would loose the profit on the bunny sale but could be recommended by Rescue Centres for accessory items such as Hutches, Hays, - the list is endless. I would imagine that the Petstore is going to make more profit in these areas than on the bunny anyhow. The Petstore would also then have the benefit of being recommended by the Rescue Centre for rehomed bunnies also - so they inturn can increase there profits - they wouldn't be losing out!!

Just garbled food for thought folks - Hey Tams - hopefully we can get some Petshop owners on for their thoughts re if this would work.

What do you think folks?

Prevent the Selling of Long Haired-Breeds

Well Lany, that's not a bad idea, just of the top of yor head!! Linking Pet Stores to rescues is definitaly food for thought. After all it's not the bunny they make their profit on, it's the accessories that go with the bunny i.e. hutch, run, bottle, bowls, toys etc, and of course repeat sales for food , hay ,straw. If the bunny was adopted from a rescue then home checks would have to be done and people would have to wait, which would stop impulse buys and people would be given advice from rabbit savy people. Also if they then tired of the bunny or for some other reason could not keep it, they would have to return it to the rescue, rather than dump it or pass it on to some unsuitable person.
It is definitaly an idea worthy of some more thought. What does everyone else think.
Just a thought, wouldn't that also put a stop to the backstreet breeders who so often supply some pet shops.

I think it would be good to get some petshop owner in to discuss it, they'll be able to shed some light on things from their point of view. If anyone knows anyone involved with running a petshop please do invite them to join us.

I think the partner plan is a good idea, there is a similar scheme being tested in the US at the moment so it will be interesting to see that results of that. Setting up this sort of scheme means th rescues and petshops have to consult with each other and relies on the petshops not minding losing out on the sales. They may gain by getting a recommendation from the rescue but there are usually multiple petshops in an area so if they all agreed to the scheme then it wouldn't make much difference as they'd all be refered if you follow me. It definately has potential though.

I imagine individual small petshops would work best as with chains they are often contrained by the instructions given by the director.

Best wishes,
Tamsin

Thats ok Annie im not offended. To be totally honest i wasnt planning on getting a rabbit when i went to the show, just fell in love with him and couldnt say no! I wasnt given any advice on grooming or caring for him.. I asked a few questions about food and housing and they told me but was very rushed which i was suprised at seeing as they were coming from breeders. I think in the future i would prefer to contact a breeder directly as they tend to give good advice and support if u buy a rabbit from there. When i was a kid i bought several rabbits from petshops with very little advice altho they were well cared for when i got them and all friendly. Pet shops vary so much. The problem with stopping them from selling pets is then you may get the people who breed solely for petshop rabbits selling them themselves and may still not give good care or advice.
Personally i would rather see stricter rules on petshops with guidance on no.s of animals in each cage and sizes of cages etc, regular checks etc..
Chris.