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Set up a small rescue

Nicole Mok

Young Bun
Hi all,

Not at the moment that I am able to set up a rabbit rescue, but this is something that I really want to do in the future.

If anyone has experiences doing so at your own home? Any information you can provide?

I have 6 years looking after two rabbits at a time. Experienced in looking after good and poor health ones. In the past years, I heard many sad cases about how people treat their pet and ended up the rabbits are suffering from poor environment, being abandoned..etc. I understand this is something that I cannot stop, but I really hope to help as many rabbits as possible.

I would like to do it at my own home. How do I start up?
* Do I need to inform the council?
* Do I need a lot money?
* Any restrictions on the number of rabbits I can keep?

Any advice would be great!

Thank you.

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I don’t have experience of this but I would imagine you would need to inform the council, you might need planning but I’m not sure, you would definitely need a lot of money for vets bills, feed, hay, and accommodation. I imagine any restrictions on the numbers would be imposed by the council, or self imposed depending on space and finance.
 
I wonder if there is any way you could search/call up 'running a rescue' topics on RU? There are/have been quite a few people do it.
 
I support several animal rescues through Patreon who rely completely on donations to operate. They're quite large scale (over 100 animals) but these are their full time jobs as the commitment is so huge.

Rancho Relaxo, Fields of Freedom, Mino Valley Farm Sanctuary, Twist of Fate, Skydog Sanctuary, Goats of Anarchy etc (you can follow them all on Instagram)

They're all registered as non profit organisations.

I often dream about the same sort of thing, but my three rabbits are already so time consuming (with a fourth on the way!) I know I'd never be able to manage it.

If you go for it, I wish you the very best. God knows rabbits need as much help as they can get in this world of tiny hutches.
 
Maybe start small and volunteer to foster for your local rescue - then you can see how things work and if it is something you want to take further.
 
Maybe start small and volunteer to foster for your local rescue - then you can see how things work and if it is something you want to take further.
I think this is a good idea :) it's what I'm planning on doing in the near future :D

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You will need: Time, money, space, transport, help with maintenance, and a back-up if you are ill. Also, a huge amount of love for rabbits, and commitment as you have to go out in all weathers to clean and feed them.
 
Don't forget the people you will be dealing with as well - those who are giving up their animals for all sorts of odd reasons, those you have to say no to, those who want to adopt but don't have the right facilities, the volunteers who fundraise, the vets and vet nurses that you will be seeing a lot more of. Plus the IT skills - to help with rehoming and fundraising. It's not just about cleaning out a couple of hutches a day.
 
I would imagine you'd need some sort of additional Insurance cover if your home will be open to the public (to view a Rabbit).

I would contact an established well run Rescue first and as Shimmer suggested maybe Fostering for them would be the best way to gain some insight in to what is really involved.

As for numbers of animals - you'd need to be able to set yourself a realistic limit. A number you can provide adequate accommodation for, afford to neuter/fully vaccinate, afford any unforeseen Vet Bills. It can be all too easy to get into a situation of taking on too many Rabbits in need. Saying 'No' to accepting an animal in need is very hard to do. But taking on more than can be coped with can make the 'Rescue' become a problem in itself.

Good luck, it's wonderful that you are planning to become actively involved in Rabbit Rescue x
 
Very basic advice to start thinking about

Yes you need financial back up..one rabbit can end up with a £800 vet bill out of the blue on top of others needing neuters and vacs ect. Out of hours vets are hugely expensive. We had a bun rushed to one the other night £210 bill for small re stitch but couldn't be left til morning. We put a lot of our own money into it.

Set yourself a sensible starting number and stick to it. Say 4 rabbits max. If you take all those you are offered you will end up in trouble.

You need people who can cover if you are ill. Again this can happen very suddenly so people you can rely on.

You also need to find a good rabbit vet near you who you can get to easily and will hopefully work with you re giving a discount. BUt be prepared some vets will not discount at all or not until you have been running a while and are able to put a good amount of work their way.

Forget days off..no really forget them. Christmas Day you will be feeding, cleaning litter trays and maybe giving meds to animals..and again boxing Day and New Years Eve..the novelty of it soon wears thin

BUT if you can do all this and more then helping those little creatures who need it is great. Just remember most of the work is dealing with people, so people skills a must ( although I'm known for being quite blunt! lol )
 
I don’t have experience of this but I would imagine you would need to inform the council, you might need planning but I’m not sure, you would definitely need a lot of money for vets bills, feed, hay, and accommodation. I imagine any restrictions on the numbers would be imposed by the council, or self imposed depending on space and finance.
Thank you Zoobec. I will definitely check out the council part. This plan will not happen after at least 10 years, the regulations may change though. This is also the time for me to save up money for the set up and everything. Wish I can win the lottory...

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I support several animal rescues through Patreon who rely completely on donations to operate. They're quite large scale (over 100 animals) but these are their full time jobs as the commitment is so huge.

Rancho Relaxo, Fields of Freedom, Mino Valley Farm Sanctuary, Twist of Fate, Skydog Sanctuary, Goats of Anarchy etc (you can follow them all on Instagram)

They're all registered as non profit organisations.

I often dream about the same sort of thing, but my three rabbits are already so time consuming (with a fourth on the way!) I know I'd never be able to manage it.

If you go for it, I wish you the very best. God knows rabbits need as much help as they can get in this world of tiny hutches.
Thank you Beapig! I totally agree the time spend for even two rabbits is a lot and I once looked after four rabbits are exhausted. That's why this plan can only be happened when I have enough money and when I can quit my full time job.

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Maybe start small and volunteer to foster for your local rescue - then you can see how things work and if it is something you want to take further.
I had experienced fostering two rabbits and at the same time looking after my own rabbits. It's really a challenging work which I want to do when I am able to.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
 
You will need: Time, money, space, transport, help with maintenance, and a back-up if you are ill. Also, a huge amount of love for rabbits, and commitment as you have to go out in all weathers to clean and feed them.
Yes, back up, never thought about it...

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Don't forget the people you will be dealing with as well - those who are giving up their animals for all sorts of odd reasons, those you have to say no to, those who want to adopt but don't have the right facilities, the volunteers who fundraise, the vets and vet nurses that you will be seeing a lot more of. Plus the IT skills - to help with rehoming and fundraising. It's not just about cleaning out a couple of hutches a day.
yes, the people I will be dealing with, which I am not good at. I am quite emotional, I do get mad in my heart on why people give up their pet so easily... Think I need to accept the fact that this is their choice to do what the owner want to do with their pets... [emoji21]

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Very basic advice to start thinking about

Yes you need financial back up..one rabbit can end up with a £800 vet bill out of the blue on top of others needing neuters and vacs ect. Out of hours vets are hugely expensive. We had a bun rushed to one the other night £210 bill for small re stitch but couldn't be left til morning. We put a lot of our own money into it.

Set yourself a sensible starting number and stick to it. Say 4 rabbits max. If you take all those you are offered you will end up in trouble.

You need people who can cover if you are ill. Again this can happen very suddenly so people you can rely on.

You also need to find a good rabbit vet near you who you can get to easily and will hopefully work with you re giving a discount. BUt be prepared some vets will not discount at all or not until you have been running a while and are able to put a good amount of work their way.

Forget days off..no really forget them. Christmas Day you will be feeding, cleaning litter trays and maybe giving meds to animals..and again boxing Day and New Years Eve..the novelty of it soon wears thin

BUT if you can do all this and more then helping those little creatures who need it is great. Just remember most of the work is dealing with people, so people skills a must ( although I'm known for being quite blunt! lol )

Rescue is a 24/7 365 job, I'm really not joking when I say that as even the odd bit of planned time off won't ever really be time off, you can be on holiday, out for your birthday, getting married or in hospital, it won't matter, the furry little lives you care for will need to be your only priority so you have to be prepared to sacrifice everything else when needed.

You need the support of your family and friends, not just physically but emotionally and probably also financially too.

It will be 1000 times harder emotionally and more exhausting physically than you ever imagined.

Have lots of savings, keep fundraising even if you think you're financially stable, it only takes 1 sick rabbit for you to find yourself several thousand pounds short. The financial pressure of running a rescue is huge.

You need to be super organised but super flexible too.

Learn as much as you can and keep learning, places like RWAF, a good exotics vet and those who run other rescues are a good place to start, CPD and online learning are also hugely useful. In order to give the rabbits in your rescue the best possible care this is vital.

Do it because you love rabbits and because you want to help 'them', no other reason will cut it long term.

Be prepared to say no to people all the time, be prepared for them to be abusive too as that will happen. The ongoing needs of the rabbits in your future rescue will need to come before those who need your help.

I've met some truly amazing people over the last few years, celebrated every time a bunny comes to trust me, every time one recovers from illness and every time one gets a forever home. I've cried literally millions of tears to and my heart has broken a thousand times, each time we loose a rabbit through illness, I've cried at the neglect new intakes have suffered, I've cried because of financial pressure and a million and 1 other reasons but I love running the rescue so for me the positives outweigh the negatives.

Good luck!
 
"The ongoing needs of the rabbits in your future rescue will need to come before those who need your help".

This is such an interesting point. I've volunteered at various rescues over the years and the best ones have this thought central in their thinking.
You need to be so mentally tough because you can not help them all as well as ultra organised, inspirational so others want to help you and you really really need to be clear about where the money is coming from.
 
I would imagine you'd need some sort of additional Insurance cover if your home will be open to the public (to view a Rabbit).

I would contact an established well run Rescue first and as Shimmer suggested maybe Fostering for them would be the best way to gain some insight in to what is really involved.

As for numbers of animals - you'd need to be able to set yourself a realistic limit. A number you can provide adequate accommodation for, afford to neuter/fully vaccinate, afford any unforeseen Vet Bills. It can be all too easy to get into a situation of taking on too many Rabbits in need. Saying 'No' to accepting an animal in need is very hard to do. But taking on more than can be coped with can make the 'Rescue' become a problem in itself.

Good luck, it's wonderful that you are planning to become actively involved in Rabbit Rescue x
Oh yes, the insurance, need to check that as well, but I think I can choose not to let the public to come viewing since I am thinking to use my own property to do the rescue?

I adopted three rabbits in the past few years from a small family run rescue. They dont let people to view their rabbits, instead they bring a suitable one to try with my rabbit.

Talking about number of rabbits, I think I can manage four at a time as a start up. Once i can be full time managing, think I will try 10 as a max.

It is really hard to say no... I heard from that small rescue, they ended up having 30 rabbits and they only got two people (both have full time job as well), not sure how they manage...[emoji47]

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