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Do people give up their rabbits too easily?

Valid reasons from everyone, especially on the reasons for rehoming etc. But I dunno it still doesn't wash with me...

Surely a pet is for life.

Sure circumstances change, but would you give away your baby so easily? No, that would be ridiculous right? I just can't get my head around how people can part with them so easily.
 
Dont get me wrong, im heavily into animal rights...im vegan and do the protests and the lot, other animals need respect. But even i can say comparing sending your own human child off packing to a new home and a rabbit are completely different things and the comparison doesnt hold much meaning. We love our buns with all our hearts...but youre telling me rehoming them to somewhere where i know theyll be safe and warm and loved and having a better time than they would do here...rather than being selfish and holding onto them even if we didnt have the time, space, money and resources to give them the kind of life they have rights to...is the same as putting our own children in care!?

What if you only had money to give one or the other the life they deserved? Its not totally unfeasible if someone had a lot of rabbits, vet bills and upkeep are terribly expensive. In these situations it becomes obvious our own human children should be the focus, and if you have resources and time left over for bunnies then fine...if not, they should go somewhere theyll get all the love and money etc they need. Im not advocating passing them onto any old home...but im talking about your average decent person who ensures they find a good home or go into rescue

Passing a rabbit on to a better home than the one theyd got wont cause massive ripples in the world and have devastating effect, infact its bound to have positive effect for everyone, which is why people do it...putting a human child into care ruins lives, often forever...comparing the two makes absolutely no sense, even as someone very actively involved with animal rights movements i can see that

(Please note im not talking about those who throw away their rabbits to any old place like trash)
 
Lea-Anne said:
Valid reasons from everyone, especially on the reasons for rehoming etc. But I dunno it still doesn't wash with me...

Surely a pet is for life.

Sure circumstances change, but would you give away your baby so easily? No, that would be ridiculous right? I just can't get my head around how people can part with them so easily.
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I agree totally with this Lea- Anne :)

Although I have never had children I know many people who have and they also have pets. The children have benefited grately from being brought up amongst the family Pets and have all learned from an early age that the Pets are a part of their family.

I have known someone forced to rehome their Pets when she was made homeless. It broke her heart but she really had no other option. I am absolutely certain that she would not have rehomed her Pets for any other reason.

Perhaps we all have a different perspective on what is a genuine reason to rehome. I am sure Rescues are used to hearing the 'we want the Pet to go to a home that can give them the time they deserve' Or 'My baby has developed and allergy'. When what they really mean is 'the Pet is no longer wanted by us'

:cry:

Janex
 
My mum was a great animal lover and i was surrounded by animals growing up, which yes, did benefit me in that i learned to love their company

She was also a single mother with 5 children on benefits and we couldnt even afford clothes and food for ourselves...so the animals suffered. Not because she didnt care, but because she simply culdnt make it all stretch. I guess she thought like some of the folks here though and she hung onto them, and they lived out in hutches in the shed most of their lives only coming out rarely because this is all we had space/time/resources for, with having to pay for our own things like meals, school uniforms, new shoes etc...just the really basic stuff

The animals were never mistreated and always had food, water, shelter etc. But obviously they could have had far better lives. Far, far better. But they really should have been denied that?:?
 
Oh and by the way she couldnt have possibly foreseen or prepared for the change in circumstances:roll: Life just doesnt work like that and im surprised anyone actually thinks it does. Her and my father divorced because he became abusive and she lost the massive house with garden they lived in beforehand, and of course his income, which had previously sustained all the animals quality of life.
Im sure 5 years before, when she was happily married with a house, garden and happy family she thought she would ever be in the position of being homeless with 5 human mouths to feed
The same applies for everyone...you just cant see these things coming
She chose to keep the animals (for the most part) but it was a constant struggle and as i said, their quality of life was compromised when they could well have gone to homes with more time, money and space
 
And of course there are people who use excuses and there are people who just get bored. You cant tar everyone with the same brush though...would be just a tad cynical:lol:
 
I can totally understand why Rescues become cynical with all the fibs they are told about why a Pet is being signed over. No, not everyone gives up their Pets because they are bored with them but the sad fact is that many people do. And they dont even have the decency to be honest about it.

As already stated, each case should be viewed in its own right but from a rescues point of view I can totally understand why they take much of what the rehomer says with a shed load of salt. In the end all that matters is that the Pet finds a home where they will be well cared for. Hopefully thats what everyone is striving to achieve.

Janex
 
My mum was a great animal lover and i was surrounded by animals growing up, which yes, did benefit me in that i learned to love their company

She was also a single mother with 5 children on benefits and we couldnt even afford clothes and food for ourselves...so the animals suffered. Not because she didnt care, but because she simply culdnt make it all stretch. I guess she thought like some of the folks here though and she hung onto them, and they lived out in hutches in the shed most of their lives only coming out rarely because this is all we had space/time/resources for, with having to pay for our own things like meals, school uniforms, new shoes etc...just the really basic stuff

The animals were never mistreated and always had food, water, shelter etc. But obviously they could have had far better lives. Far, far better. But they really should have been denied that?
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That is a fair point, I see where you are coming from. I have a friend who takes in "rescue rabbits" and now has 40 all crammed in hutches and they never come out but she thinks she is "rescuing" them!:shock: I dsiagree... :rolleyes:

I see what you mean, but to me comparing my rabbits to a baby is no different to me. They are both living things, both require my care, and to me my rabbits are MINE FOREVER no matter what. I intend to devote my life to them just like you would a child. I cannot imagine giving them away, good home or not. It would break my heart. They are "my children" :D (Sure Jane will agree with me on this one ! :lol::lol::lol:) .
 
By the way my rabbits are not "subsitute" babies even though I keep refering to them as such, its just the best way of describing how I feel about them.

I can't stand babies :)
 
Hmmm, very intersting responses so far. As most people have pointed out everyone is different but I must say some people tend to "do" before thinking about it.
I see my rabbits as my children. I see animals as equal to humans, perhaps its wrong of me to do this, perhaps not. However I believe in planning and priority. I have 8 rabbits, a number I can cope with financially, space wise and time wise. I don't go out much becuase the rabbits are my life.
One day I would like to get married and have children however before I bring children into the world no matter how broody I get, there are some things that have to be sorted first.
I need to be financially secure, have a proper house and garden to bring the kids up in and make sure the kids and bunnies don't affect each other. Until I have created that perfect situation I will not be having kids.
Right now I'm too poor and still studying. Its not practical.
If I was raped or had an unplanned pregnancy, the rabbits would take priority and would not be rehomed. As for jobs, I only take the ones whivh won't affect the buns.
Why do I do all this? Its my duty to those creatures to care and provided for them as if I had given birth to them myself. Everyone who has a pet, has this responsibilty but sadly many people don't take tha responsibility seriously enough :(
All I know is that I will not and cannot give my rabbits away, not for anything or anyone will that happen.
 
I think its an interesting debate as to whether people just give up on pets since they cant be bothered with the hassle anymore or if they genuinely cant provide them with a loving home. Where the bunny or any other pet is bought for a child, i think the tendancy is that the novelty will wear off and parents dont want to pick up when the kid gets bored, but im sure its a tought decision for most people.

Personally i have a bunny who i love, had him for 2 years now. I moved into a house share with a friend who promised me she'd let him remain a house bunny but after a month he was outside in the garden. Broke my heart since i can tell he misses being inside with people round all the time, but i didnt want to give him up. Biggest problem i have now is that im off to travel australia in Jan (wasn't planned when i bought him) and so i have to find him a new home, its really tough to think of where he's going to go, cant bear to take him somewhere and just leave him!
 
Hmmm, very intersting responses so far. As most people have pointed out everyone is different but I must say some people tend to "do" before thinking about it.
I see my rabbits as my children. I see animals as equal to humans, perhaps its wrong of me to do this, perhaps not. However I believe in planning and priority. I have 8 rabbits, a number I can cope with financially, space wise and time wise. I don't go out much becuase the rabbits are my life.
One day I would like to get married and have children however before I bring children into the world no matter how broody I get, there are some things that have to be sorted first.
I need to be financially secure, have a proper house and garden to bring the kids up in and make sure the kids and bunnies don't affect each other. Until I have created that perfect situation I will not be having kids.
Right now I'm too poor and still studying. Its not practical.
If I was raped or had an unplanned pregnancy, the rabbits would take priority and would not be rehomed. As for jobs, I only take the ones whivh won't affect the buns.
Why do I do all this? Its my duty to those creatures to care and provided for them as if I had given birth to them myself. Everyone who has a pet, has this responsibilty but sadly many people don't take tha responsibility seriously enough
All I know is that I will not and cannot give my rabbits away, not for anything or anyone will that happen.
__________________
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Thats exactly how I feel :thumb:.

There here for now and the future.

I have made sacrifices for my pets. I didn't live in at uni because I wouldn't of been able to take them so instead I traveled every day.

If I have stayed out, I have to get home first thing to check on them, no matter what.

I have cancelled an important night out to stay in nursing a poorly bun.

A chunk of my wage is put into an account for their vet bills.

I have dumped men who didn't "get" animals... :)


You just adapt.
 
Lea-Anne said:
Thats exactly how I feel :thumb:.

There here for now and the future.

I have made sacrifices for my pets. I didn't live in at uni because I wouldn't of been able to take them so instead I traveled every day.

If I have stayed out, I have to get home first thing to check on them, no matter what.

I have cancelled an important night out to stay in nursing a poorly bun.

A chunk of my wage is put into an account for their vet bills.

I have dumped men who didn't "get" animals... :)
You just adapt.
Click to expand...

Me too :lol:
 
I am so pleased Tyson's mum didn't want him any more as now he lives with me and I love him to bits - same goes for Bruno. So I guess every cloud has a silver lining :love:
seriously though it makes me cross when people say they can't take care of their rabbits any longer because they are moving...getting married...having a baby etc - I read that as "can't be bothered any more" to be honest.
 
I'm pleased to that Bruno's mum gave him up as he as definately a better home with you:D.
Her reason was: I go away alot and can't afford to keep paying boarding fee's. Bruno was only 6mths old when he came in and she was going away alot before she got both the bunnies she gave up. (I think the real excuse was they didn't get on (2 males) because they weren't neutered and she just couldn't be bothered:roll:
 
i have had to ask for my buns to be rehomed.

i know alot of people have said moving isnt a good enough reason which i suppose on the outside it isnt.

im moving from a 3 bed house with lovely garden to a tiny 1 bed flat on the top floor of a building block. its all i can afford and each month i am prob going to be in the minus's

They do not allow petsso if i got caught with the buns i would be homeless - and so would the buns.
ive been looking since march for a home and the most current one is the only one i could afford.
the rabbits would have to go into a hutch smaller than they size they are used to and would be cooped up.

id love to keep my bunnies and its breaking my heart to have them rehommed however if i can't given them the space and pay for the things they need then i dont want to selfish and keep them to make me feel better.

so if everyone sees my plea for a new home its not because im moving and i can't be bothered.
 
kayj said:
I'm pleased to that Bruno's mum gave him up as he as definately a better home with you:D.
Her reason was: I go away alot and can't afford to keep paying boarding fee's. Bruno was only 6mths old when he came in and she was going away alot before she got both the bunnies she gave up. (I think the real excuse was they didn't get on (2 males) because they weren't neutered and she just couldn't be bothered:roll:
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boarding fees is soemthing that a responsible owner takes into account when taking on a rabbit in the first place (or any otehr animal!)

we have quite a few mouths to feed, but we don;t miss our holidays.....yes we have a friend who looks after some of the smaller animals, but the buns, and my two eldest budgies, and also when tehy arrive in july my pair of piggies, all go into boarding, costing me over £13 a night, but i count that in when i cost up a holiday.

as people know i recently took on a new addition (samson)a nd when i took him on i already made sure that there was a place available to board him with holidayhutches, i started his jab programme straight away (less than 24 hours after he'd arrived etc).

to me the only change that woudl make me consider giving up an animal is if nick an di were very unfortunate lost our jobs and were struggling financially and so i couldnt provide them with the vet treatment, and finicial support. i've been througha divorce some years ago, and whne going trhough it moved 100 miles and set up house on my own, so i had my fair sghare of stress an dyou knwo what - it was teh animals that kept me going! i've had my health problems (a cancer scare, and a slipped disc which meant several weeks off work and couldnt walk) but we got through it.
 
I rescued a rabbit 6yrs ago what some1 had got for there kids, but once the bunny had grown up a bit they couldnt be bothered with it , my husband caught them chuckin the rabbit into a hedge bottom,he was all mattered up thin as a rail runny eyes etc,now hes a big fur ball loves playin in the garden with my dog , some ppl have got swingin bricks for hearts grrr
 
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