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wild X buns - U/D Noddy has been de-plummed.. 1 month till reunited with the girls :D

This may be an unpopular suggestion but since everyone seems quite sure they'll be more wild than domestic would releasing them be an option? If you release them early would they just adapt?

The worst that will happen is they'll die, right? If they are PTS they'll definitely die with no experience of freedom.

I know nothing about wildie/domestic crosses so excuse me if this is an appallingly ignorant suggestion.
 
There's Bunny Haven rescue in Dumbar - 01368 864606. Their websites down just now and it's not a huge rescue but they do have quite a few fosterers.
 
BattleKat said:
This may be an unpopular suggestion but since everyone seems quite sure they'll be more wild than domestic would releasing them be an option? If you release them early would they just adapt?

The worst that will happen is they'll die, right? If they are PTS they'll definitely die with no experience of freedom.

I know nothing about wildie/domestic crosses so excuse me if this is an appallingly ignorant suggestion.
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They are both wild and domestic, yet neither wild nor domestic. Release is not ideal unless its in a place where they are safe.

The worst that could happen would be that they suffered an agonising death, whereas if they were PTS it would be humane and they would no suffer. That's how I would probably look at it.
 
I'd suggest rehome or release - not pts

I think rehoming them or foster is the ideal, or releasing them- i have to be in agreement with kat here, atleast they get to smell fresh grass, take a few deep breathes.

They may go on to live happy lives, or atleast one of them might survive. That to me is worth the several that may not be successful. Beats putting them to sleep.

I think that this would have to be in an area where it wouldn't cause problems, where there are other wild rabbits already, so they can intergrate. If they do they do, if they don't they don't. It's just life. Some animals live and some die. I think most humans would prefer to be homeless than dead. I'm pretty sure it's the same for most animals in nature- they would rather be feral and scavaging than dead.

In life there is always a risk that bad things will happen- i.e fox eating the bunny, but this is part of the nature. We can't protect all the animals of the world. I don't think it's protecting them putting them to sleep, it's just not giving them a chance, when they could otherwise of had a go at living.

I think that it's much kinder as they are healthy to release them if they are part wild. I wouldn't suggest it if they had any issues- teeth etc, but if they are young, hopefully they will fit in to the natural world with ease.

Ambience x
 
It may also depend on their colour. If they are a traditional wild colour, they may have more chance of survival than if they have domestic colouring, which would result in less camouflage. Also, existing wild rabbits grow up in a community where they already have burrows, shelter etc; releasing new buns into the wild would literally be popping them on the surface. They wouldn't have a ready made warren system for their protection.

If a wildlife sanctuary or place with proper semi-wild but secure facilities can't be found, then I do agree with you that pts would be preferable to keeping them in a hutch :cry: I think this about many other rabbits not just wildies actually, that pts must sometimes be a better option than to live an entire life stuffed in an insufficient hutch :(

I'm sorry I didn't see your earlier post hun, otherwise I would have replied x
 
BattleKat said:
This may be an unpopular suggestion but since everyone seems quite sure they'll be more wild than domestic would releasing them be an option? If you release them early would they just adapt?

The worst that will happen is they'll die, right? If they are PTS they'll definitely die with no experience of freedom.

I know nothing about wildie/domestic crosses so excuse me if this is an appallingly ignorant suggestion.
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I don't think it's unpopular as it was my first thought aswell in preference to PTS. If they are young and healthy and of wild colours and released in a good food source area at this time of the year, they have every chance of sticking together and by next year being quite a large group themselves I woudl have thought, they will breed as soon as they have established a warren - I would imagine they can do that within hours aswell judging by how fast mine can dig:lol:

I would only consider that if all the other avenues are explored and exhausted first, it is preferable maybe to home to a rescue/wildlife sanctuary rather than destroying them for what really isn't their fault. Is there absolutely no way they can afford to separate into males and females and neuter them all even that would be better, you can pick up sheds fairly cheaply or second hand 6ft hutches and build a couple of aviary runs on them. I really can't get my head around this sort of stupidity and it for me it almost beggars belief that they are putting it on your shoulders - having said that if it were me - I would separate them into same sex groups and get another hutch with a view to neutering them and rehoming in pairs if poss. Sounds like an uphill struggle but, that is essentially what rescues do daily. They are going to have to pay for their mistake either way, why should it be the easiest option? I personally don't think it is cruel to keep them in that accomodation initially with a view to upgrading or rehoming but, males and females have to be separated immediately and they have to get some playpens to ensure they are exercised for a minimum of 4 hours a day. Ideally free range but, if that's not poss then they have to buy suitable runs to allow them to run not just sit outside the hutch. I can see why you are fed up but, it's not the rabbits that are to blame at all and 'the I told you so' doesn't really help - far better to maybe keep them onside, get them to sell stuff on ebay etc to pay for another hutch and runs and then then save to get each one neutered or if poss contact the equivalent of the PDSA and see if they can neuter cheaper. Best of luck x
 
Ambience said:
In life there is always a risk that bad things will happen- i.e fox eating the bunny, but this is part of the nature. We can't protect all the animals of the world. I don't think it's protecting them putting them to sleep, it's just not giving them a chance, when they could otherwise of had a go at living..
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It's always going to be subjective, with each individual having a different idea of what's worth the risk.
I personally am leaning towards giving them a bit of life being worth it if the only other option is PTS
dying by fox or badger is going to be pretty quick so I'd be tempted to vaccinate them against myxi so that they'd either have a quick death or have at least 6 months of bliss before a drawn out death.
 
What an awful situation. :( It's horrible to know something like that's going on, but to feel like you're hitting your head against a brick wall as they aren't listening. :(

I think it would be very sad if they were pts, but I honestly don't think setting them free is an option, (but that's just my opinion.) There are too many what-if's and you would be freeing them from a prison just to send them into more possible suffering. :? Yes, they could well go on to live long happy lives, but equally they may well not - I don't know how much of the wildie instincts they would have retained, especially after spending their first few formative weeks in captivity. I'd far rather know they had ended their lives peacefully than possibly in fear or pain. :(
 
I can't believe people think they should be released! These buns may have wild genes but they're not wild rabbits. ...they don't stand a chance.
 
and mine. it's not that i think they'd survive. my brother hates rabbits being kept as pets, and always wants to 'give them one real run' before the end. i don't take his view but sometimes its difficult to know what's best. i give my pets the best lives i can, but it might have been kinder not to have had them. but then, someone else would have had them, and they might not have been so happy...
 
These are domestic bunnies. Would your release agouti domestic bunnies?

These are wild bunnies. Would you keep wild bunnies in a hutch like this?

Having said that, they are neither domestic. Nor are they wild.

The answer, I would suspect, is no.

I've dealt with many wild X bunnies. With the right set up they can be very happy in captivity. However, this is not a happy set up. So chances are its a case of finding somewhere where they can have all the space they need (althouh I love AMS's idea of getting the boys neutered and securing the garden) and still be safe.

If they are to be released they can't just be tipped out into the wild, they need to be taught, they need to learn wildie skills, they need to learn what to eat, how to forage, they need to have time to allow their skills to develop before letting them go. Currently they have only known their domestic side and it would be like releasing a domestic rabbit.

There have been studies about releasing rabbits next to established warrens and it seems that those rabbits that are released near them never integrate and seem to end up leading a solitary life sort of alongside the warren. I find that sad. Yes, there is a clutch of these bunnies but there is no knowing if they will stay together or not, where they would go, where they would sleep, etc.

Releasing them from how they are now into the wild is just cruel in my eyes. There would, at the very least, need to be a decent, long and successful transition.
 
i haven actually read all this thread but in my head I just imagine these wildish rabbits sitting in a hutch! I mean I have no idea how wild they are but it sounds awful for a entirely domestic rabbit. Putting healthy rabbits to sleep becasue they are in the wrong hands doesnt seem fair to me!
 
hmm my friends bunny mated with a wild bunny (it escaped) and they let the babies free once they were old enough - when we told me I was :evil::evil: but thinking about it - like others said what are the options
1) keeping them and shutting them up
2) PTS
3) freeing

:?

she reckons hers survived as she says she often sees black bunnies running about where she released them - if this is true then I guess that the best option :?
 
I have to agree with Becca. If they were suffering then no problem- PTS. I mean in this country we don't even euthanize suffering humans, we only have this option with animals, but i know we certainly wouldn't consider culling a healthy human being just because of unfortunate circumstances and to me a bunny deserves the same chance, even if the ultimate end is suffering then death.

Most animals suffer then die, it's part of the natural process of life as we either decline in health or get eaten by an animal higher up in the food chain. Fortunately for human beings we are at the top so we don't have to go through what a animal who is lower down the food chain does. I think most animals are well equiped to survive.

Every cell in an animals body works to keep it alive, it will run from danger, try get food, shelter- i wouldn't discount the natural instincts of even a domestic bunny. Animals are not truly helpless in the wild, they are just at more of a risk of coming to an end by natural causes, sooner than if they were caged up by humans. I am pretty sure if i was a bunny i'd go for the being released in a quiet nature reserve, rather than being put down.

Again this is individual preference i suppose. I don't think there is a right or a wrong on this subject, it all depends on your values systems and what beliefs you have given yourself about what is right wrong, cruel or not cruel.

Ambience x

p.s i've lived on a farm when i was younger with a loose(allowed to roam around the farm and sugarbeat fields) domestic female- unneutered(before i was old enough to know they should be)- she mated with a wildie and had a litter. I saw kits running around the farm of different colours, despite foxes, dogs and cats on the farm. I think buns have a fair chance especially if they blend in. The feral cats actually ended up being killed by a fox, rather than the rabbits, so they have just as much chance of surviving as any other animal i'd say- they will either be lucky or unlucky.
 
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Ambience said:
I have to agree with Becca. If they were suffering then no problem- PTS. I mean in this country we don't even euthanize suffering humans, we only have this option with animals, but i know we certainly wouldn't consider culling a healthy human being just because of unfortunate circumstances and to me a bunny deserves the same chance, even if the ultimate end is suffering then death.

Most animals suffer then die, it's part of the natural process of life as we either decline in health or get eaten by an animal higher up in the food chain. Fortunately for human beings we are at the top so we don't have to go through what a animal who is lower down the food chain does. I think most animals are well equiped to survive.

Every cell in an animals body works to keep it alive, it will run from danger, try get food, shelter- i wouldn't discount the natural instincts of even a domestic bunny. Animals are not truly helpless in the wild, they are just at more of a risk of coming to an end by natural causes, sooner than if they were caged up by humans. I am pretty sure if i was a bunny i'd go for the being released in a quiet nature reserve, rather than being put down.

Again this is individual preference i suppose. I don't think there is a right or a wrong on this subject, it all depends on your values systems and what beliefs you have given yourself about what is right wrong, cruel or not cruel.

Ambience x
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Good post! :thumb: And so late at night too! :)
 
This is assuming that the rabbit only have two options- PTS or release, I'm sure most of us on here would do all we could to help save them. I had a wild rabbit from the age of 2 months to 9 years, he was a happy boy. These rabbits have no concept of being wild and therefore won't miss it. As long as they have space to run around, a friend and food they will be as happy as any domestic rabbit.
The situation they are in isn't great, but they won't be like this forever.
 
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