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*Sigh*.....................

Oh dear...

But to be fair it was 'only' 3 litters, right? I mean say the rabbits were missexed, the owner finds babies and the female had already gotten pregnant again. Okay, that 3rd litter shouldn't have happened then since they had the fore warning by that point, but at least they're getting help now before it becomes an even bigger problem.

ETA: Actually thinking about it I don't think the article said how many rabbits the owner started with. Say it was 3 rabbits that were all supposed to be the same sex but actually one was a boy and both the females got pregnant at the same time. Then one got pregnant again right after she gave birth, before the owner saw the babies and knew to separate. I mean I'm not saying that's what happened but it's definitely possible.

The article had some good rabbit info that was nicely worded though. The only part I disagree on is the point blank 'they are definitely not a pet for children'. People say that about all animals but if the parents are good parents/pet owners than they can absolutely teach the kids how to behave, and supervise them when they're together. Kids aren't animals, they're capable of understanding English. Me and my siblings were raised with rabbits and other small pets and plenty of other animal lovers were as well.
 
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Twenty unwanted rabbits that the rescue has had to take on in one go is a huge amount. If like my local rescue they won't rehome until bunnies have been neutered that's 5-7 months of accommodation tied up and stoping possibly neglected rabbits coming into rescue. Add in the cost of food and hay. Add in the vets bills - vaccinations say £50 per rabbit, that's £1000 plus the cost of neutering at a very conservative guess of £100 per bunny (to keep the maths simple - Willow's spay was £160) so that's another £2000. £3000 in vets bills alone, and all due around the same time, that's a heck of a burden for a rescue and it could all have been avoided.
 
Sorry, William, I don't agree that rabbits are a good pet for children. The vast majority of bunnies don't like to be picked up and handled and that's why most children like pets. They have very high accommodation costs and are likely to have high vet bills too. How many parents are prepared to pay out all that just for a pet for their child, who may be fed up of looking after bunny after 6 months when bun is going to live to be 7 years old? If they are a pet for an adult, who just happens to have children that's a different matter. I accept that not all children are the same and there are children who will be mature and responsible pet owners, but sadly that's not the majority, hence rabbits are not good pets for children.
 
Rabbits can be fine within a family setting where the adults are fully committed to, and have an interest in, their care, but not as a pet for children. Not everyone is the same, but you can't ignore the huge numbers of rabbits that are surrendered into rescue with the line 'my children lost interest'.
 
Sorry, William, I don't agree that rabbits are a good pet for children. The vast majority of bunnies don't like to be picked up and handled and that's why most children like pets. They have very high accommodation costs and are likely to have high vet bills too. How many parents are prepared to pay out all that just for a pet for their child, who may be fed up of looking after bunny after 6 months when bun is going to live to be 7 years old? If they are a pet for an adult, who just happens to have children that's a different matter. I accept that not all children are the same and there are children who will be mature and responsible pet owners, but sadly that's not the majority, hence rabbits are not good pets for children.

That's the problem - of course with young kids parents need to play an active part in the rabbits lives as well. This should just be assumed, but it seems people don't assume that when they hear the words "children's pets". How active depends on the kid and their age. You can't just expect a little kid to take care of rabbits on their own with no help. Parents should be happy to help their kids take care of the pets, do health checks, supervise when necessary, etc.

Who the pets technically belong to doesn't matter either way - you can get your toddler a pair of rabbits for her birthday and say that they're her rabbits and yeah when the kid is 2 years old they'll only be able to, say, feed the rabbits with help. But as they grow they can take on more and more little tasks with you and the process is an excellent learning experience for the kid and a wonderful experience for the parents as they observe and teach their kid these things. I'm sure there's parents on RU who have done just that with their kids and pets.

People think kids are much stupider than they are (am I the only one who remembers being a kid? remembers being taught how to handle very small and delicate animals?). You can explain to even a young toddler that the rabbit doesn't like being picked up but they can gently pet them and lay on the floor with them. Unless you've got a kid with serious developmental or behavioral problems, they'll understand.

It's not the majority maybe because many parents don't think it's important to raise kids with animals and teach them to love and respect them. I think this is really important for animals in general. Why do people think the general public are so ignorant? You can't complain about dummies letting their rabbits breed out of control and in the same breath say that kids shouldn't have rabbits. Me and my siblings learned how to sex rabbits and all that as kids. Why? Because we kept rabbits! Funnily enough we've never had pregnant rabbits either.

Also accommodation costs depends on whether you keep them indoors or outdoors. Indoor accommodation costs may be nearly free if you have free range house rabbits.

I just think it's better if articles such as this explain it along the lines of 'rabbits don't make good pets for children unless the parents are committed to caring for them too'. People are likely to ignore that line if it's just "don't make good pets for children" because they've probably also heard that line a hundred times for dogs, cats, hamsters, parrots, fish, turtles, the list goes on... (Is there actually an animal that a e.g. 7 year old could keep without any worry that they'll mess up, need advice or help somewhere along the line?). What they don't normally hear is that they need to be committed to caring for them too, because yes the kid could lose interest, need checking up on, the pet needs to be brought to the vets by the parents, funded by the parents etc etc.
 
I don't think it's a question of "people thinking that kids are stupid" William, more a question of knowing that a lot of adults are morons!
 
I don't think it's a question of "people thinking that kids are stupid" William, more a question of knowing that a lot of adults are morons!

Yes, I've been on animal forums for long enough to know that it's quite easy for kids to know what they should be doing, but be powerless to do what they need to because they don't get support from the parents. The parents have to be fully committed too.
 
Yes, I've been on animal forums for long enough to know that it's quite easy for kids to know what they should be doing, but be powerless to do what they need to because they don't get support from the parents. The parents have to be fully committed too.
Yes this is the issue.

I was taken to get two mini lops on my 9th birthday - I'm gunna be completely honest... I didn't want them and I did tell my parents this, but they didn't seem to listen(story of my life[emoji38]) anyway we got them, I liked them, they were okay but I never really bonded with them because they were terrified of humans basically because of the way my dad interacted with them... He has this horrible habit of treating every animal like a dog? Idk why [emoji38] anyway I defended them and cared for them they both lived til around 9 and a half 10 years.. But their life wasn't ideal. And I was almost powerless - and knowing what I know now it hurts me knowing some of the things that happened.

Now I have my own buns and my parents are just like why do you spend so much on hay, why do they need this? Or this? They're just rabbits Grace.. They aren't bad people, they just see rabbits as a small unintelligent pet that you buy for a child and I fear that the same for a lot of parents. Not everyone cares so deeply for animals as lots of people do on here, which is why I like it here so much :) if I ever was to have a child I would get them rabbits and teach them how to properly interact and care for them, but always be there - but I think you'd have to really care to keep that up for 10 possible years.

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Yes this is the issue.

I was taken to get two mini lops on my 9th birthday - I'm gunna be completely honest... I didn't want them and I did tell my parents this, but they didn't seem to listen(story of my life[emoji38]) anyway we got them, I liked them, they were okay but I never really bonded with them because they were terrified of humans basically because of the way my dad interacted with them... He has this horrible habit of treating every animal like a dog? Idk why [emoji38] anyway I defended them and cared for them they both lived til around 9 and a half 10 years.. But their life wasn't ideal. And I was almost powerless - and knowing what I know now it hurts me knowing some of the things that happened.

Now I have my own buns and my parents are just like why do you spend so much on hay, why do they need this? Or this? They're just rabbits Grace.. They aren't bad people, they just see rabbits as a small unintelligent pet that you buy for a child and I fear that the same for a lot of parents. Not everyone cares so deeply for animals as lots of people do on here, which is why I like it here so much :) if I ever was to have a child I would get them rabbits and teach them how to properly interact and care for them, but always be there - but I think you'd have to really care to keep that up for 10 possible years.

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A Rescue I know of had a call from someone asking if they could sign over their 6 year old Rabbit. On further questioning by the Rescue the person piped up with 'well when we got him we thought Rabbits only lived for about 3 years, so we have had him for twice as long as we thought we would'.

In other words the poor Rabbit just lived too long !! Probably surviving on the very basic care.

Until the status of Pet Rabbits is raised, in the eyes of a high percentage of the general public, to equal that of Dogs then they will continue to be seen as easy and cheap to care for and for some people, easy to get rid of :cry:
 
I don't think it's a question of "people thinking that kids are stupid" William, more a question of knowing that a lot of adults are morons!

:lol: This is true!

I do wonder if it's a cycle though. I'm an 'animal person' likely because my parents are, and they are likely because their parents, and so on.
How people are raised counts for a lot.

So these moron parents that teach their kids next to nothing about animals - possibly even ingraining that pets are like toys that you lose interest in and give away - are probably raising more little morons and the cycle continues until someone who just loves animals by nature breaks it.
 
A Rescue I know of had a call from someone asking if they could sign over their 6 year old Rabbit. On further questioning by the Rescue the person piped up with 'well when we got him we thought Rabbits only lived for about 3 years, so we have had him for twice as long as we thought we would'.

In other words the poor Rabbit just lived too long !! Probably surviving on the very basic care.

Until the status of Pet Rabbits is raised, in the eyes of a high percentage of the general public, to equal that of Dogs then they will continue to be seen as easy and cheap to care for and for some people, easy to get rid of :cry:
Gosh yes that's awful :(

It's true though, my parents would never have made me get rid of an animal but they were told the bunnies would live til 5-6 years old. There's a misinformation spread about small animals. Dogs most people get and cats to an extent but anything else is just not treated the same as you say.

My best friend bought two rats on impulse from pets at home a week ago (I wasn't aware) I don't know much about rats, but they arrived sick, and everything she was told to purchase for them was incorrect honestly. They're in a tiny cage, with incorrect bedding, bad diet, and no hides. Everything but the cage has been fixed now, and the cage will hopefully change in the future, but she spent a lot of money trusting pets at homes advice which was just incorrect.

Honestly I don't have much sympathy for her regarding all that though, it was irresponsible what she did. But I think most people think they can trust a pet shop.. Which does kinda make sense [emoji38]

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I don't think it's a question of "people thinking that kids are stupid" William, more a question of knowing that a lot of adults are morons!

I couldn't agree more. I know a girl (13) who was given rabbits. her parents brought three siblings (2 boys, 1 girl), and because they are siblings they believed they wouldn't mate! fast forward to now, the girl picked up the rabbit and out pops a premature baby that died instantly. she then gave birth, the mother had no nesting box, just a dirty litter tray. the girl did all she could, but it is out of her control. they all died over night to the cold and a few had been killed by one of the males. the parents still refuse to separate them, buy another cage, or even neuter. they live in america so there is little I can do.

the problem is is that when parents buy pets for their kids, they expect (for some forsaken reason) that the kid can do 100% of the work, and that isn't the case. a 13 year old kid doesn't have a stable income to pay for vet bills, a huge cage and so fourth. they don't seem to factor in said pet can get sick, or said pet needs neutering (in some cases), or said pet will need a huge expensive cage....

I see mothers walking in to P@H with 5 year old kids asking them if they'd like a hamster, and I just cringe. most of the time these parents haven't done any research, will let their kid pick out some gross little cage, the thing will be shoved in there. later on they'll either be forgotten about, returned because it bit (no duh), or just die of a lack of care. said parent won't do anything as they brought it for their kid so its the kids responsibility!

my two eldest sisters had a rabbit. it was locked away in the garage, in a tiny 2ft hutch, never came out. after my dad & their mother divorced, the rabbit didn't go with them because they didn't want it. at first they came over every day to feed it, but eventually my mother (no relation to them) had to pick up on the care because they became bored. the things pen was just caked in poop and pee, eventually it died. my dad did nothing because it was "their responsibility" (meanwhile they're 6 & 13) and their mom did nothing for the exact reason. nobody checked up on it.

their hamster met the same fate, it was cool for a few days and then my mom ended up picking up the duty before it finally passed away.

the problem is is that kids get bored, they have such tiny attention spans. you can not expect a kid, unless they have a stable income, to take up 100% of the work. cleaning yes, but buying bedding, food, vet bills may be difficult for them to meet, yet people do not factor that in. its not the fact that kids are stupid, its the fact kids are kids. a pet is a big responsibility as it is a living thing, if the parent isn't going to partake in joining in (which will likely encourage the kid) then the animal will suffer.

in that sense, no pet is a children's pet unless the parents will step up.

yes there is the exception to the rule, people like those on this forum, but it is an exception to the rule unfortunately :(

This should just be assumed, but it seems people don't assume that when they hear the words "children's pets".

never assume, it makes an ass out of you and me, as my dad would say. with so many pets, of all types, suffering or being returned to shelters, there clearly is an issue. parents are buying their kids pets, not doing any research themselves, expecting the kid to do everything, and then not taking on some responsibility as the adult.
 
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