Do we have a right to choose a rabbit on looks?

[shay]

I wanted a chocolate dwarf lop. I picked Pebbles (agouti) as I thought she might darken with age (yeah I'm stupid :lol.

Barnaby was the only single male in the rescue and I'd been told over the phone he was black. He's also agouti but his face and mane are slightly darker brown than Pebbles. He'd been there 8 months so was obviously being overlooked and so I adopted him.

I can honestly say agouti is not my favourite colour and I'd love a more 'popular' or lighter colour (cos I keep tripping over them in the dark :roll

But I love them to bits and they love each other to bits and I wouldn't change them

 

[William]

Now that I think about it, I have never chosen a rabbit before :shock: My parents brought home rabbits for me as a surprise when I was younger, so they were the ones that picked them out. Jack was found abandoned at a pet shop and then Ben and Timmy I guess you could kinda say I picked them, because I saw their ad on craigslist and had been looking for nethies. I probably will pick my next rabbit though. I love all rabbits but I really want a white holland lop. My Izzy was a white mini lop and I kinda want a rabbit similar to him.

I don't think there is anything wrong with it though. I agree thats its human nature and it shouldn't matter at all unless you're getting the rabbit from a rescue that will let you try the rabbit with your current one to see if they like each other. People pick breeds with other animals, like dogs, so why should it be any different with rabbits?

 

[Bavarian Bunny]

I always go for a combination of looks and character. There are certain breeds of rabbits that I don't like the looks of and therefore I wouldn't adopt them. That might make me shallow, but I don't care. I am the same about other pets like cats and dogs. Some breeds are ugly to me, not the animals' fault, but I still wouldn't want them as a pet.

 

[Grin]

I've never gone on looks. Our first rabbit was Rosie who was a P@H bunny but she 'spoke' to Dave and seemed to choose him. We got her without thinking and didnt even have a hutch! Hubby built one that day - it was huge and solid and lasted years. I dont think looks came into it - it was def her personality as she just fitted in.

Our second rabbit was Lugs - an unwanted vicious rabbit (the owners didnt have a clue and we didnt have enough time with him to help ) - we loved him none the less and he mellowed a little - enough to take treats from us and nudge for attention/food. No chance of choosing on looks - it was either come to live with us or he's be let out over the docks.

Lucky was an ad on Facebook - i didnt even see pics - i just rang her and said i'd pick him up later. He was a fluff ball and i had to take him to the vet to get his matted fur shaved. My mum said "I've seen better looking rabbits" and i knew i loved him to bits from that point on because i thought he was stunning! :lol:

Daisy wasnt chosen on looks either - but as a compatibility match for Lucky - i trusted Alices judgement and it worked out. I've since heard people on here saying they dont like REWs but she is stunning - sooo white and has such a lovely inquisitive character.

So none of mine on looks but all of mine i've loved/love to bits!!

 

[SarahP]

Of course we have a 'right' to pick and choose. Given how many rabbits are in rescue, I can't think that it's an issue, given that people tend to go for different breeds/colours. eg if I were to have rabbits again I would love an agouti, which are supposedly unpopular.

 

[wally4eva]

I don't think it matters if you like a rabbit for the way it looks. :? I would love a thrianta because I love their colouring but I don't care if I never get one. I love all my buns that I don't mind how they look. They are gorgeous to me and I personally think personality is more important. However when rescues post pics of those buns available, I do prefer some to others because of how they look, but all are gorgeous anyway. :lol:

I agree with this
I don't go round looking at all the rescues to find a specific colour or type of rabbit, however I think sometimes you do it without knowing, you have like 10 pairs of rabbits at the rescue to choose from so you look at all the personalities and sometimes you are attracted to one pair because in your eyes they are extremely cute, not to say the others aren't gorgeous but your eyes are automatically drawn to them, you don't have to think well I want one with a mane and that is agouti and so on but you, without any thinking, fall in love with a certain bun, I think sometimes you just automatically go for the bun/s that are the most gorgeous in your eyes.

Overall we do have the right, some people decide to ignore it and some people decide to use it. If you've really fallen in love with a certain breed and colour then you have the right to go searching for them, if it's a rescue bunny it dosen't matter which bun you adopt, so if you've chosen him/her by looks it dosen't make a difference, your still rescuing the bunny

However to me I don't care what my bunnies look like, I love them all just the way they are

 

[chloemurray]

I don't really think there's anything wrong with it, I love my lionhead's but I know in the future that I want to have lops again as well.
So when going to a rescue etc I would be looking out for not only bunnies that would fit in with my family, but also bunnies that appeal to me...
Benji wasn't chosen by me, my mum chose him and his brother Bertie, but she told me she did choose them on looks; Benji for his markings and blue eyes and Bertie for his size. (Bertie was so gorgeous, I miss him)

 

[meadowsweet]

We adopted Dandy because he needed a home and he was and still is the weirdest looking rabbit (I think) but we love him for his personality,he is such such a special boy

 

[Xsophia]

We adopted Dandy because he needed a home and he was and still is the weirdest looking rabbit (I think) but we love him for his personality,he is such such a special boy

He is sooo gorgeous!!
this may sound weird but he looks just like my dog!! :lol:

I think we can go on looks as i just fell in love with toffee at the pet shop and the lady wouldnt even let me hold him just stuffed him in a box and gave him to m but he is gorgeous and follows me everywhere and climbs up my legs for cuddles!

 

[TermiteFrank]

There's that many in rescue I doubt you'd even have a problem finding what you wanted based on looks anyway. Though I can understand the rescues being infuriated by it. I've fielded calls for shar-pei rescue in the past and had people thinking there would be a very expensive to buy blue puppy just waiting for them to come and pick up there and then and not give a donation as they were doing resuce a favour. :roll: And I'm not kidding or exaggerating. When told they had to be homechecked and it would probably be a red fawn or black older dog, the phone would get slammed down.

I must admit when I went looking for a wife for Frank (who I didn't pick) I would have loved a tricolour or preferably black dwarf lop, but was willing to take any rescue female that would bond with Frank. The rescue talked about a dutch female they had, but as soon as she did the home check, she drove me to see the rabbits and she had just got Dulcie in and we both thought she would be a perfect match, which she was. The fact she was a breed and colour that I would have chose in a perfect workd was just a bonus.

 

[beki]

I don't think there is anything wrong with choosing a pet on looks. Most of mine haven't been chosen on looks but conveniently are ones I find most pretty.

My two cats were recommended by the vet as they were to go to the RSPCA as kittens as the owners couldn't cope with a new litter. The owners said they were black and White ( I love black and White cats) when they arrived they were actually torties! I live torties though so was very happy and they are pretty cats.

My ruby bunny is a thrianta. I had never heard of them before I got her it just so happened that a work colleague of a friend had purchased a pregnant thrianta and I was after a bunny and so I got her. Also a happy convenience I love Ginger animals.

Reggie was a rescue chosen by me. I had decided I wanted a black lop but ended up with a grey nethie. He is such a pretty boy . Not much on the personality as he is a grumpy stubborn little bunny but I love him and fortunately he is a perfect match for ruby!

I really don't see why you can't choose what pet you would be happy with regardless of whether your choices are based on looks or personality. If I based on personality I would have never got reggie and it has taken me over a year to get him used to being picked up but I wouldn't change him.

 

[martlou]

It's not as if everyone likes the same thing anyway. I've seen some bunnies that I think are a bit odd looking but I'd never say because obviously a) it's nothing to do with me and b) their owners love them anyway!

When we got Rosie from BARC we actually wanted to get a bonded pair, but there were none available at that time. It was basically a toss up between Rosie and another doe called Nutmeg. Nutmeg wasn't the prettiest bunny but it was my initial idea to go for her because I wanted a cuddle bun and she was :lol:. Rosie is a much prettier bunny, but a bit of a tough cookie who didn't like being handled and certainly isn't a cuddle bun. Martyn always goes for the difficult cases (he picked me :lol::lol and convinced me that it would be more rewarding when Rosie came to trust us. I have to agree that he was right - she's not a cuddle bunny but she's so much more trusting than when she arrived I'm sure that Nutmeg would have been an easier rehome as well, due to her personality.

Little Ted was also a BARC bunny, he'd been in a terrible condition when they took him in. As soon as I saw him I thought he'd make a lovely husbun for Rosie and to cut a long story short, he does. I think they are both gorgeous and cute, but neither of them were picked for that reason .

 

[thumps_]

I don't see anything wrong with chosing a 1st. rabbit for looks & breed.

Although appearance doesn't matter to me, health issues do matter. I'm just one of those people who get really upset to imagine what it's like for the animal to be ill for much of the time. Having said that, bunnies get so much out of life even when ill. I'm the one with the problem here!

When it comes to a companion bun, compatability has to be the overiding factor.

 

[HS]

My first two bunnies were chosen for looks, and were pet shop bunnies. I bought two girls, as I had no idea about bunnies then, although we did have them spayed. The next was also a petshop bun, but he was chosen as he was the grumpiest bunny and I thought it would be difficult for him to find a home otherwise. I was looking for rescues at that time, but couldn't find any.
The rest have all been rescue buns. Nougat and Ruby were chosen as they'd been in rescue for such a long time, Squidgy turned up on my doorstep after having been abandoned.
As Squidgy was a black nethie (and he was my heart bunny, my soulmate), when I saw Salt and Pepper on RR I fell in love completely and had to have them!
My o/h chose Pippin from RR, and then Jill Honeybunny suggested Daisy-Boo as a friend for him.
So, we've had lops, a dutch, nethies, agouti, belgian hare, all different colours - anything goes here! And from fostering as well, I've fallen in love with both of our fosterers just because of their characters.
If I had a favourite, it would be nethies, but I think I could love anybunny

To answer the question though, there are so many bunnies in rescue, that I think we absolutely have a right to choose a bunny on its looks.

 

[Kipper]

I dont see that its wrong to choose an animal that you like the look of. In the end I think personality & looks go hand in hand. I didnt choose my 1st bun Munchkin he choose me & how he looked didnt come into it, though of course he was & still is gorgeous.
I went out today hoping to adopt a black or chocolate lop but instead adopted a small BEW Nethie cross because of the cute way she was throwing a toy around her hutch. She does look lovely but it was her personality that got her a home.
The thing is what's attractive to one person is unattractive to another so in theory everybun should eventually find a human that will love them

 

[Liz47]

I think looks does influence the animals you choose and I don't think it is wrong unless you only get that pet because it looks cute.

I try to choose pets on personality, but I must admit I got Beano because she was in a small cage and only fed pellets and I knew how to look after rabbits and had spare accomadation but partly because I liked her colouring and thought she was very cute. But I got some of my other pets, like my rats, by letting them 'choose me', my rats sort of chose me, they came to me and were at ease when I was handling them so I chose them, or if they are suited to you and what you are looking for.

I think choosing rabbits on looks is ok but only if that rabbit is 'suited to you' like for example if you wanted an indoor rabbit then choose one that likes being indoors and you are not getting it just because you think it is cute. But I try to and would reccomend going by personality as rabbits (and other pets)can't help what they look like and I hate seeing pets in rescues for ages just because people think others are cuter or nicer colours, such as black, white and red eyed pets being less popular than what some people think nicer coloured ones.

 

[happysaz133]

Where have you seen that? I've never ever heard something like that before. I doubt many rescues say that and you should be careful not to spread it around as it may seem as yet another negative against rescues.

I've heard some say it's sad that the uglier buns get overlooked, but never that they'd wouldn't let you adopt on looks. Maybe what they meant is that they will match you with a rabbit suitable for you, your lifestyle and family? Which is of course important.

I can't remember them off the top of my head, but there were definately 2 I looked at that said they wouldn't pay attention to any people looking for a specific colour or breed of rabbit.

Perhaps they did mean what you said, but they should have worded it as such, it puts people off. Don't worry, it wasn't one discussed on this forum, I didn't get the link on here, which is why I can't go back and remember the place.

 

[Crunchie]

I can't remember them off the top of my head, but there were definately 2 I looked at that said they wouldn't pay attention to any people looking for a specific colour or breed of rabbit.

Perhaps they did mean what you said, but they should have worded it as such, it puts people off. Don't worry, it wasn't one discussed on this forum, I didn't get the link on here, which is why I can't go back and remember the place.

Possibly to deter folk that want the bunnies to breed from. It sounds silly but I know that rescues sometimes get this.

 

[Bavarian Bunny]

I think if someone was too fussy about what rabbit they wanted, I would turn them down, too. It's fair enough if they don't want a giant or a rabbit with very long fur which needs a lot of grooming, but to say they want an orange rabbit with blue eyes and nothing else, would be a bit narrow minded. I have my dream bunny, which will probably never come up in a rescue, but in the meantime I have adopted 5 other bunnies, which all look different and have different characters. 3 of them I saw on photos first and thought they looked sweet and cheeky, one I met when she was a baby and being fostered by Janice, and one I got from an ad on Gumtree which didn't have a photo or a description, but when I saw him I knew I had to keep him. He's got the loveliest character of them all.

 

[helgalush]

I dont think its wrong to go for bunnies you like the look of - I certainly felt Twinkle and Star were very pretty when we adopted them (still do) but their personalities were what won our hearts. Its been a combination of things that have made us adopt the bunnies we have.