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Accidental rabbit litters; which is kinder?
- Thread starter ciara
- Start date
happybunny
Mama Doe
Have to agree, keep any that can't be rehomed or keep them all.
Putting a healthy bunny to sleep shuold never be an option.
Putting a healthy bunny to sleep shuold never be an option.
.::.whiterabbit.::.
Mama Doe
i said the last one but i wouldnt ever put a rabbit to sleep- you should just find good homes for them!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:shock:
Err maybe the moderators could delete this thread if it's going to make people angry.
It wasn't my intention to stir the pot so to speak, I was genuinely asking a question as I know that rabbit breeding season is about to hit in my country - Spring :!: and I wondered what people's thoughts were on an inevitable occurence - accidental litters of bunnies.
The reality is that healthy dogs and cats are put to sleep every day in animal welfare organisations, and due to the increasing popularity of pet rabbits in Australia, I was curious about the outcome for some of the unwanted babies, or how people think it should be handled.
:bunny:
Err maybe the moderators could delete this thread if it's going to make people angry.
It wasn't my intention to stir the pot so to speak, I was genuinely asking a question as I know that rabbit breeding season is about to hit in my country - Spring :!: and I wondered what people's thoughts were on an inevitable occurence - accidental litters of bunnies.
The reality is that healthy dogs and cats are put to sleep every day in animal welfare organisations, and due to the increasing popularity of pet rabbits in Australia, I was curious about the outcome for some of the unwanted babies, or how people think it should be handled.
:bunny:
haffyj
Mama Doe
oh god i would never ever EVER put to sleep any litter its not kind at all!!!
When sugar had her surprize litter i rehomed them all except Amber which i kept, and i still see all the babies!!!
Eve is right if you (or any one else) can their rabbit to have babies it is down to the person who let it happen to rehome them or have them stay with them
When sugar had her surprize litter i rehomed them all except Amber which i kept, and i still see all the babies!!!
Eve is right if you (or any one else) can their rabbit to have babies it is down to the person who let it happen to rehome them or have them stay with them
Many people in our area seem to hand them over to the rescue I am involved with if they have accidentally or intentionally had a rabbit which has produced a litter and are unable to find homes for them. I am not sure on the numbers of babies we have taken in or the numbers of babies which have been born with us this year, but it is certainly a lot.
The idea for some people who initially say that they would keep them all is not always feasible. Lorna who is with me at the moment had 8 babies 3 weeks ago, keeping all 8 of them would initially be possible once they have been sexed and then separated, however the financual cost of neutering and vaccinating let alone finding them accomodation would be out of the question to most people. We are probably talking £400+ for neutering, £200+ for vaccinations per year and then accomodation would be variable depending on their sexes but a minimum of £300 depending on what you used and they still need to be fed. That is £1000 spent very easily and quickly :roll:
Janice
The idea for some people who initially say that they would keep them all is not always feasible. Lorna who is with me at the moment had 8 babies 3 weeks ago, keeping all 8 of them would initially be possible once they have been sexed and then separated, however the financual cost of neutering and vaccinating let alone finding them accomodation would be out of the question to most people. We are probably talking £400+ for neutering, £200+ for vaccinations per year and then accomodation would be variable depending on their sexes but a minimum of £300 depending on what you used and they still need to be fed. That is £1000 spent very easily and quickly :roll:
Janice
hoppitylops
Warren Scout
I agree with most of the others.......none of the above is appropriate even if hyperthetical....i would try to rehome to other animal loving people and if there were any left i would keep them myself.
tupperwarequeen
Mama Doe
I got Daisy, Maisie and Taz because their original owner had been stupid enough to put a male and female bunny together and was then surprised to have baby buns :shock: :shock: They were going to be let out for the foxes if the lady I got them from hadn't taken them in 
There were originally 6 in the litter, the other 4 were dead in the hutch (poor wee souls)
I was horrified, if through your own stupidity, curiousity or greed (eg thinking you can make shedloads of money by breeding) if because of you a bunny has mated and reared a litter the least you can do is to ensure the babies are homed somewhere safe. ( and not to snake owners :x )
I appreciate what Janice says about the costs involved......but if you were the sort of owner who neutered their pets you wouldn't have got in that situation would you :roll: :roll:
There were originally 6 in the litter, the other 4 were dead in the hutch (poor wee souls) I was horrified, if through your own stupidity, curiousity or greed (eg thinking you can make shedloads of money by breeding) if because of you a bunny has mated and reared a litter the least you can do is to ensure the babies are homed somewhere safe. ( and not to snake owners :x )
I appreciate what Janice says about the costs involved......but if you were the sort of owner who neutered their pets you wouldn't have got in that situation would you :roll: :roll:
I had a surprise litter of 8 cos I thought I had 2 females (was not so well up on rabbit knowledge then) and found good homes for them and told everyone to bring them back if they couldnt keep them and one did and thats how little Kami is back with his mum! Could NEVER have put them to sleep - no way!! I would have kept them all if neccessary
Hi Janice
I was just wondering about the ratio of surrendered buns you get in, to how many get humanely euthanised, if any?
For everybun else;
The reason I asked the initial question was because I had it heard it suggested (by a rabbit welfare person here in Aust) that sometimes it might be kinder to PTS unwanted baby buns, than to let them possibly get into the hands of some unscrupulous Greyhound trainers - who often (at least in my country) take in give-away buns and use them as live bait for their dogs in training.
I was just wondering what others thought about it, and I didn't mean to upset or make anyone angry by suggesting PTS as options in the poll. :roll:
doorkeeper
Mama Doe
None of those should be an option. If the RSPCA are likely to put them to sleep they should go to a rescue that won't put them to sleep, or any that can't be rehomed should be kept. People that keep animals should be ready to be responsible for any possibility - and if they have entire animals accidental litters are a possibility. If they are unable to keep litters they should neuter their animals before it happens.
ciara said:I should have made it clear that it was a hypothetical question.
Remembering that it isn't always easy to find good homes for baby rabbits,
What if a rabbit had 10 babies in a litter?
Would you suggest keeping all of them?
if there was no inttention of keeping the litter or finding good homes for All the bunnys then, it should have been made do no accidential litters happen! ie..... they should have been castrated at the earliest opurtunaty so no accidental litter could happen!
i have 19 rabbits here and have never had an accidential litter!
its called reponsable pet keeping!
Hiya,
I'm guessing Ciara isn't from the UK? We are very lucky here that we are virtually at the level where no healthy rabbit needs to be euthanised. I know a few places euthanise rabbits with health problems but generally there is usually space available somewhere for healthy rabbits particularly babies which are easy to home.
Unfortunately in other countries this isn't the case. It's not because they don't care about the animals just there is genuenly not any space to put them. I can't imagine what they must go through having to choose which animals get the places and which don't.
It a suitation like that then that's a valid question. Keeping the animals is not always possible - or even legal. Unlike the UK many US states pose restrictions on the number of adult animals kept per house - so for example, you maybe limited to 4 rabbits over 4 months.
We are very lucky in the UK, even if it doesn't seem that way sometimes
Tam
I'm guessing Ciara isn't from the UK?
We are very lucky here that we are virtually at the level where no healthy rabbit needs to be euthanised. I know a few places euthanise rabbits with health problems but generally there is usually space available somewhere for healthy rabbits particularly babies which are easy to home.Unfortunately in other countries this isn't the case. It's not because they don't care about the animals just there is genuenly not any space to put them. I can't imagine what they must go through having to choose which animals get the places and which don't.
It a suitation like that then that's a valid question. Keeping the animals is not always possible - or even legal. Unlike the UK many US states pose restrictions on the number of adult animals kept per house - so for example, you maybe limited to 4 rabbits over 4 months.
We are very lucky in the UK, even if it doesn't seem that way sometimes
Tam
jrn1310 said:
if it is not financially viable to keep them they should not have let it happen, i am by no means rich, but when i had my litter it was my intention to keep them all, if it werent i would NOT have had them and since then i have taken on a further 11 and growing. my point is people/rescues take on humans stupidity for granted and when people are ingnorant to the damage we cause we dont even batter an eye lid we just clean up the mess! i am sure if it was ileegal to pts an healthy animal and rescue charged for taking in pets, humans may take more responsiblilty for the bloody actions!
happybunny
Mama Doe
Although I am against any animal been PTS if healthy I will say that not all litters are the fault of the owner.
When you take on an animal you can not always guarentee that it is not already pregnant. The first guniea pig I had gave birth 2 weeks after we got her. Luckily she only had 2 so we were able to keep them. All my female bunnies have come from unwanted homes and I am lucky that none of them were pregnant.
When you take on an animal you can not always guarentee that it is not already pregnant. The first guniea pig I had gave birth 2 weeks after we got her. Luckily she only had 2 so we were able to keep them. All my female bunnies have come from unwanted homes and I am lucky that none of them were pregnant.
Ciara wrote
To answer this question would be virtually impossible as we have no idea on how many we save as a proportion that get euthanased, let free as food for the fox, given to unscrupulous people for food whether human food or animal food. As a rescue we are only able to take in those we have physical space for, the others we have to accept that we cannot always help. Most rescues do have waiting lists and many animals simply disappear when their owners are approached again to say that a rescue has room for them. As a rescue we are particuarly lucky and do not always have a waiting list which allows us to help other rescues (some nearby and others a distance away).
bunnylove wrote
I totally agree with Eve, unfortuntely if people were charged an economic cost for taking in their unwanted litters more 'accidental litters' would be set free in the parks and woods.
Janice
To answer this question would be virtually impossible as we have no idea on how many we save as a proportion that get euthanased, let free as food for the fox, given to unscrupulous people for food whether human food or animal food. As a rescue we are only able to take in those we have physical space for, the others we have to accept that we cannot always help. Most rescues do have waiting lists and many animals simply disappear when their owners are approached again to say that a rescue has room for them. As a rescue we are particuarly lucky and do not always have a waiting list which allows us to help other rescues (some nearby and others a distance away).
bunnylove wrote
I totally agree with Eve, unfortuntely if people were charged an economic cost for taking in their unwanted litters more 'accidental litters' would be set free in the parks and woods.
Janice
jrn1310 said:
i realise this janise thats why i said its should be illegal to pts a rabbit in good health, in any manner! and i know this is in an ideal world, but i still stand by the fact that people should have to be listenced and registered to own an animal, it just annoys the hell out of me why humans arent held accountable for there terrible actions!
